Dead Scars
by Berserker216
Summary: The world came to an end that spring when cherry blossoms were abound. Now in a world where everyone, zombie or human, is out for our blood, we must find out how this calamity occured so that we can survive. Please review and comment.
1. Prologue: Dead Illusion

**Author's Note:**

My first official fanfic! Oh joy! This story revolves around my character: Gojo Sakakibara; as he journeys around the new world he and his friends find themselves in after the assault on Fujimi Academy.

Keep this in mind: a good number of characters who have (or were) killed off in the canon story will be kept alive (in some cases only for certain amounts of time) for my story. This fic _will _follow the canon story and contain characters from the main story, just not as frequently (things might change though as we get closer to the end, however).

**Disclaimer:**

Highschool of the Dead is property of Daisuke Sato and his brother Shoji Sato. I thank these men with all my heart for creating this series. These men own all characters except Gojo and any other original characters I may come up with. Enjoy!

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><p><strong><span>Dead Scars<span>**

**Prologue: Dead Illusion**

_Today, I assume, is a great day, for being blank._

_Tell me, have you ever wondered what would happen if the world abruptly entered a new era? Would a meteor like the one that killed most of the prehistoric animals hit us and cause the humanitarian extinction? Would WWIII start and make the entire planet fight against one another? Or rather, how about if a gate from hell suddenly appeared and yoma, demons from hell, emerged and started feasting on the living's flesh?_

_What's happening now…is almost exactly like that last mentioned premonition._

_We wouldn't find out how it began until that moment during the final battle against that man._

_That menacing smirk, hidden beneath such innocent eyes._

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><p>It was a lovely spring day in the Land of the Rising Sun. The sun was descending over the mountains and the wind blew swiftly through the trees. Sakura petals moved through the air surrounding a campus and continued to fly well past the walls and beyond. A bystander would've been captivated if they could see the many cherry trees blowing through the school.<p>

There may not have been any bystanders watching the pedals that day, but there was a spectator watching them that day.

The person in question was standing at the top of the roof sipping a Sprite bottle next to the observatory. He wore a military-style gakuran, had brown skin, white hair which was spiky due to hair gel he put in there, and red eyes that were covered by a pair of black shades. On his back he carried a wooden sword due to his position in the school kendo club.

His name, or rather, _my_ name, was Gojo Sakakibara, a student at Fujimi Academy in the town of Tokonosu.

After I finished by Sprite, I briefly entered the observatory, trashed the bottle and then headed back outside. I gave a small smile as I looked down at the trees blowing in the wind. It was just such a sweet sorrow watching them flutter.

The reason for me having a wooden sword is, well, I'm part of the kendo club as well as its vice-captain. Our main captain was the nation kendo champion Saeko Busujima. Quite popular with both genders, the captain displayed a powerful yet kind aura and had the older sister type going for her. While I agree that Busujima-taicho was good at heart and that she showed a great loyalty to her friends, it felt like there was something more sinister to her. We were friends, and yet…

"Listen to me, worrying about this shit." I muttered, turning to face the cherry trees.

"Oi, Gojo! You gonna stare at those things all day?"

The voice belonged to another guy who was sitting on the staircase leading to the observatory. He had shoulder length dark colored hair, earrings on his left ear, and he wore his gakuran jacket open, revealing an electric blue shirt. On the shirt printed in bold red letters it read "Bad Line". Not to mention, he also had on a steel bracelet on his right arm and a few rings on his left fingers.

I just smiled in response.

"Heh. It's just like you to not appreciate nature's gift of wonder, Ryoyuki."

"Tch."

My best friend, Ryoyuki Imamura, turned and lit a cigarette. Yeah, I know, he smokes which is against better judgment, but I'd never tattle on a friend. Ryo blew some smoke and sighed, gazing at the lower area of the roof. I could tell he was bored out of his mind for reasons I can understand.

You see, Ryoyuki was part of the school's ping pong club. However, it seemed that the only reason he went to those club meetings was to ogle the club's leader, Kyoko Hayashi. Hayashi-sensei was more than aware of this, as most of the male students came to her class made it painfully obvious. Needless to say, sensei quickly whipped them (not literally) into shape in hope of going to the national championship. She had bad blood with him due to a mishap that Ryo and his other friend Oda caused which cost the ping pong team any chances at going to the nationals.

As I continued to think on this, my eyes and ears shifted to another student stringing a guitar. The young man had blonde hair which was spiked in the center area but normal everywhere else. Like Imamura he also wore his gakuran open, revealing a green high-collar shirt with a checkered pattern that had the collar bent downwards.

It was then that I saw the door to the roof access open and out came another boy. He had spiky brownish black hair and also wore his uniform unbuttoned, revealing a plain red shirt. He walked over to the blond kid who was singing.

"Just like a poison eel! Manda, Manda! Manda, Manda, Manda! Manda, Manda! Manda, Man-"

It sounded like a parody of the band Blue Heart's song, _Linda Linda_.

Takashi Komuro, the black haired boy, sat down near the blondie, Natsuhiko Morita. He had an amused look.

"Morita, what the hell kind of a song is that?"

"Oh, Komuro! Don't see you up here too often after school."

I watched the two talking and decided to join in.

"Ryo, can you move?"

He did as I said and scooted aside. I walked down and approached them.

"Hey, Sakakibara!" Morita waved as I got closer. "What're you doing up here?"

"Just hanging; there's no club for either me or Ryo today so we came up here." My thumb pointed to my friend at the staircase.

I than glanced at Komuro, who was looking at me half-heartedly. Unlike Morita, Komuro was more quiet and a bit of a drifter bordering on aloof. Of course, I knew full well the reason for his gloomy attitude.

"What's wrong?" Morita asked jokingly. "Don't tell me Miyamoto hurt your feelings again?"

Komuro suddenly face faulted and hung his head in shame. "Rei…" He began moaning as the atmosphere around his body gloomed.

"Whoa, hey! I didn't know that it was for real! I'm sorry!"

Sighing in pity, I gave Komuro a pat on the shoulder. I call him Ko for short, by the way. If I had been in this position, I'd feel fucked too.

Komuro's childhood sweetheart, Rei Miyamoto, had vowed via pinky promise to wed him when they were older. As I heard from Takeda, another one of Morita's buddies, Miyamoto was held back a year (despite having excellent grades) and when asked why, she told her friend that he wouldn't understand and refused to answer. A few days later, Komuro saw Miyamoto with her arm around his best friend's, Hisashi Igo. The following day, when Rei confronted her childhood friend, she told him that she was moving on because he never was open about his feelings for her. The two apparently had a falling out and hadn't spoken to each other since.

To say that I felt sorry for the guy was an understatement. I mean, it wasn't _entirely_ his fault that he got dumped. Ko couldn't help but be who he was, and trying to be perfect just wasn't his style. Of course, hardly anyone would ever know this, even among his other friends besides Igo.

Morita placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, but the depressed look on Komuro's face didn't change.

"Don't get down about it! There are plenty more fish in the sea!"

"Huh?"

"Plenty of _fish_, Morita?" I inquired.

"Sure! Which reminds me, Komuro; I've got something to show you!"

Komuro turned and saw Morita reach into his gakuran and pulled something out.

"It's a secret but I'm gonna let you in on it!"

In his hand was a green notebook with a chibi version of him pictured on the cover dressed in a rockstar outfit; and also on the cover there was a title that read: Master Morita's Top Secret List of Fujimi Academy's Triple-A Hot Girls. At the bottom right it said: written by Natsuhiko Morita of class 2-A.

"Whaddaya think? This is my list of all the triple-A hot girls on campus!"

I raised a brow.

"This hardly looks 'top' secret."

"Tell me about it!" Komuro said glumly, though he seemed to have cheered up considerably than before when Morita made fun of his losing Miyamoto.

"So what's in here anyway?" I asked as the amateur guitar player began flipping through the notebook.

"Girls, man! Girls! Once my band gets its big break, our groupies will be all the girls here on this list! In other words: a list of the academy's available girls!"

Deciding to briefly change the subject, I asked. "Which reminds me, how's your instrument hunting going?"

Morita glanced at me. For a moment, his carefree expression seemed to change into something slightly more serious.

"It's alright, I guess. Takeda was able to scrounge up some old drums and Murashi purchased his own guitar."

"I see. Hasn't Miura gotten or found one yet?"

"Bah, Toshio's too busy with baseball club to play with us! He's occupied with that, not to mention trying to win over that Taniuchi girl from 3-A."

"Really? He actually likes mousey girls?"

He and Komuro laughed a bit.

"Eh, if Toshio heard ya say that, he'd crush your balls!"

"Ehehehe."

"Anyways; first up we have…"

I saw him stop flipping through his report and he was on a page of a purple haired young woman with blue eyes. She was tying her hair into a ponytail and her chest was tied down in bandages, her back facing the camera. I recognized her without even giving a second look.

"Captain of the kendo club: Saeko Busujima! Not only does she have beauty, but she has a dazzling combination of severity and kind-heartedness. And best of all: she's gotta totally dominating older sister-type feel to her! She's every guy's dream!"

Komuro's face brightened up as Morita gave him the photo.

"Oh I've heard of her! She definitely has something to her!"

Morita gave a perverted grin, a twinkle gleaming in his eyes. "I know, right? She's just too good to be from Earth! But what I really want…is to see her in nothing but an apron…maybe even a thong!"

Both Komuro and I sweat dropped. It wasn't weird to talk with male friends like this, but to me it was really fucked up to talk about the captain like that. I sighed before retorting.

"Morita, I can think of a million reasons on why Busujima-taicho would never wear something like that. But I'm not going to tell you what any of them are because merely the mention of them would cause her rep to be ruined."

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?" He asked with fake innocence, that annoying grin persisting.

I simply shook my arms, dismissing the subject altogether.

"Like Sakakibara said, I doubt she'd ever wear something so…so…pervy!" Komuro said.

"Bah, you're right. Sides, she'd be way too difficult to approach for us. But…"

Morita turned to me.

"_You_, Sakakibara, are a different story. You're the fuku-taicho of the kendo club, aren't ya? So you should be able to score her-"

"No way."

"Huh?"

"Me and the captain are purely platonic friends and nothing more. I'll admit that I had a crush back when I first started at this academy, but I gave it up."

"Why's that?" Asked Komuro.

"Because if I had started dating her, I would've had way too many enemies at school."

"Amen to that."

Shrugging, Morita turned a few more pages until he stopped on one particular page. His eyes widened and then darkened as he leaned towards us.

"Anyways, tell me what you guys think about her total opposite." He murmured.

"Why are you whispering?"

"No idea!"

This was followed by a quick punch to the face done by yours truly.

"IF YOU DON"T KNOW THEN DON'T WHISPER!"

"Ouch." Morita clutched his face in pain. "Nice hit! I think you broke my nose!" He groaned, making no effort to hide his sarcasm.

I winced. If I had done any real damage to him than-

"Hah, just kidding! After being hit by you for so long I've developed-"

I slugged him again.

"Joke like that again…and DIE!"

Turning around, I noticed Ryoyuki staring at us. Undoubtedly, he had heard my outbursts. He soon turned away, however, and continued smoking. Morita still shrugged off my offense and continued onwards.

"W-whatever! In any event, feast your eyes on this!" He handed Komuro another photo. It depicted a particularly sexy student who again I recognized off the back. She had spiky orange hair with a black headband holding it down; she also had yellow eyes. She was sitting in a beach chair wearing a revealing pink and purple striped bikini, licking a vanilla ice cream cone.

"Fujimi Academy's sexist female student: Miku Yuki! She's nothing like a high school student, and that's what makes her so hot! There are a lot of weird rumors surrounding her, but that just makes her sexier! Just look at this photo!"

"I am, and all I'm feeling is revulsion, Morita."

Morita gasped at the utter garbage I just spat. To him at least it was trash talk. Since he didn't look like he'd snap out of it on his own, I decided to reveal my reasoning.

"Yuki is as total whore and all of us here know it. Hell, the entire student body and faculty of Fujimi know it. She always finds herself a new guy every other week. I hear even Miura got caught in her web of affairs. Of course, that may be just yet another rumor, but still."

I gave the picture another look over.

"Did you take this at last year's beach trip?" He didn't answer.

The blond haired boy came back to reality when he noticed that Komuro was shivering with a mixture of both lust and anxiety. He was still clutching the photo of Yuki as he trembled.

"Nice, but I really can't see her as a good choice in a serious relationship!"

I gave Ko a brotherly pat on the back.

_Glad to see someone agrees with me in this nutty circle of friends!_

Don't get me wrong. Among my best (male) friends, Ryoyuki Imamura was at the top of that list, but sometimes Ryo wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospects of what I did, so I'd talk to either Komuro or Igo about them. Morita was too much of a carefree pervert to do much comforting.

"Still, it'd be nice to become a slave to her will, right?"

"I'd sooner use my bokken as firewood."

"Whatever." Morita stated, completely ignoring my comeback. "Alright then!"

Morita continued to flip through the book's contents until he stopped at an image of not one, but two girls. Once again, I instantly recognized them, but the fact that they were in there shocked me more than the previous two. Not in the sense that Morita thought they were hot enough to be included, but the fact that people I knew so well were there.

"Misuzu…and Toshimi!"

Both of the boys glanced at me in shock.

"You know them?" Komuro inquired.

"More than that!" I stated. "In terms of female friends I have they're the closest I've got."

"Really?"

"He's got that right, Komuro. Misuzu Ichijo and Toshimi Niki! Their voices double one another, which is kinda weird at first. However, once you get to know them, there's no way you'd ever be able to give 'em up! It'd be more addictive than crack!"

I felt something snap in that instant. In no time, I was on feet with my bokken in hand, and I had lifted up Morita by his collar and reeled him in so that he was only inches away from me. I would have agreed that having Misuzu and Toshimi around was pretty nice. But when he compared them to a drug such as marijuana, that felt more insulting than a slap to the face.

"Listen here, Druggy McPerv! I don't have anything against you including Misuzu and Toshimi in this little report of yours, but write this down as a side note on their page: ever do something to either girl that ends up hurting them and I'll make you the next target for my kendo practice! Understand!"

Morita could only nod his head as he trembled in fear. Realizing I had perhaps gone too far, I loosened my grip and let him go. He was gasping for breath. Komuro gave me a stern look; he was clearly unhappy with the way I handled Morita's comment.

"I'm sorry!" I bowed apologetically. "Reacting so hostile to that harmless comment was completely unreasonable!"

"Never…mind…it's all…good…" The guitar player was speaking in between breaths.

"Anyways, Sakakibara?" Komuro asked, trying to take our mind off of what transpired. "What do you know about them?"

"Well, Misuzu's father runs a small bar in Eastern Tokonosu. She also has four sisters; one who has a job, another in college, and the other two are in middle school. They can be pretty embarrassing at times, and Misuzu ends up chasing them around. I first noticed this when I visited her house. Her dad immediately tried to kick me out until he saw how 'perfect' I was."

Komuro and Morita just stared blankly, obviously surprised.

"YOU"VE BEEN OVER TO HER HOUSE?" They both shouted in union.

Morita's face was a tad red. "I've seen you guys walk home from school, but…"

"I've been to Toshimi's too."

"EHHHHH?"

I paused a bit before continuing. "I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but her family's got some money. Their house is quite massive."

"How big?" Asked Komuro. "We talking a 20 room mansion?"

"Too be honest, I've never really asked or counted myself, I think it's over 50 to 60 rooms."

"50 TO 60? THEY'VE _REALLY_ GOT IT MADE!" This was from Morita.

It was then that Morita gave his trademark loser grin and patted me on the back.

"So when's the wedding?"

Immediately all color vanished from me. Soon afterwards the paleness was replaced with a burning red color which made me feel dizzy and very hot.

"Wh-what are you saying!"

"Eh, come on! If you manage to get one of them as your girl, you're pretty much set for life. A bartender's life ain't too bad for you, since you're good at socializing! And if Niki decides to wed you, well, then you've got it made, pal! Not to mention, Ichijo's the one who scored the highest on the midterms during our first year here, right? You've got excellent tastes, man!"

He was laughing as he said this, even though life isn't nearly that simple.

_If only he knew; the true depths of our bonds…_

It's true. I really liked Misuzu and Toshimi; a lot! Also, I wasn't just satisfied being merely good friends with them, either. However, when the time came, I could only chose one of them to seriously date, and I didn't want to do anything to ruin our friendship. Misuzu and Toshimi were hardly ever apart, except when one of them was out sick or on vacation. Like true sisters, they did everything together: go shopping, watched movies; they even did all their school related assignments together. Even the photo in Morita's notebook symbolized their friendship.

Misuzu had dark brown hair tied in a bun and wrapped in a cloth, along with long bangs on both sides, exposing her whole forehead, along with golden brown eyes. She looked so much like Momo Hinamori from mangaka Tite Kubo's _Bleach _that it was scary. Toshimi had dark blue, almost black, hair tied in a pigtail. She also had light blue eyes, about a shade lighter than Busujima-taicho's. The girls were wearing revealing bikinis and holding each other's hand. Misuzu's bikini was light blue while Toshimi's was crimson bordering on orange. Misuzu had her butt facing the camera, giving a wink at the photographer. She looked every bit as charming as she did so.

_What the hell's wrong with me?_ I wondered.

Then suddenly, something about the photo seemed familiar. I'd seen the girls wear those swimsuits before.

"Morita, was this taken at the sports festival?"

"Yep! Takeda's the one who took the actual pic, but he didn't want it so I got it instead. Pretty addictive, right?"

"Yeah."

"You can keep that if you want. I've got a million copies in my dorm room."

"Thanks."

I then saw two birds land on the railing surrounding the rooftop. They glanced at each other before flying off into the sky.

_Wonder…if they're friends? Or maybe… sisters?_ I thought with a smile as they joined a larger flock.

"But Sakakibara, when the time comes, how will you ask one of them out? They're always together."

"That's what's so great about them, Komuro. Guess you just don't get it. Next up!"

I turned my attention to the guys as Morita flipped through the notebook. He then stopped on a page with a picture of yet another girl, again who I recognized right away. She was wearing a gym uniform and a noticeable bandage on her left ass cheek; she also had bandages on her fingers and a volleyball could be seen in the background. The girl had long pink hair and it was tied in a single ponytail, in contrast to the many other times I saw her with two ponytails.

"Hottest of all the second-years: Saya Takagi! She's pretty unpopular cause she's kinda a bitch, but that's what's great about her; she's the perfect queen for masochists! Though I'll admit her dad's kinda scary."

Indeed. Takagi's father was a Uyoku dantai politician, a real right-winger, if you know what I'm saying. I'd seen him on TV making speeches to the Japanese society; of course his daughter would never brag or discuss them with her fellow students. It's as if she'd actually had a grudge against her parents for some reason.

Morita continued: "Get this: though she looks pretty slim in her uniform, she's actually got bikini model tits!"

"Oh really?" Komuro didn't seem particularly turned on by this revelation.

Just then, the blondie got a proud smirk on his face.

"Thing is, I really can't recommend her to either of you, since I've already launched my attack on her!"

I grinned. "Wow!"

Komuro was flabbergasted. "You're seriously into her? Don't tell me you actually _like_ being abused like that, Morita!"

Morita sighed and covered his face with his hand.

"I've already asked her out three times but she keeps ignoring me!" A small twinkle of hope glimmered in his eye. "But I'm still gonna keep trying!" He said with confidence.

Komuro and I sighed. Poor guy never had any luck with girls. Not to mention, Komuro had already been friends with Takagi since they were in kindergarten. The black haired boy looked at me and whispered.

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell him that me and Takagi are childhood friends. Takagi can be really mean sometimes, ya know?"

"I've seen it. Still, it's never a good idea to lie to friends, Komuro. You're already in too deep when it comes to how you feel about Igo after he took away Miyamoto."

"This is nothing like with Rei and Hisashi! I mean, look at him." He pointed to his friend ranting on about if the world ever came to an end, he and Takagi would still be standing on top of the rubble. I sweat dropped.

"Fine, we've got a secret." And with that we spat shook on it.

_For now, anyways._

"That all you have to show us, Morita?"

He stopped ranting. "That's pretty much it for all the interesting ones, anyway. The rest are kinda boring to be honest."

"Then why bother to put them in there?"

"I wanted to include Fumiko Taniuchi, but-"

"Miura threatened you like I did minutes ago, didn't he?"

He nodded without audio.

"Jesus Christ, this is sad!"

We heard Ryoyuki's voice come from behind us and turned to face him, still smoking, standing right there.

"Oh, Imamura! Were you listening in?" Morita asked.

"You bet I was! And man, are you guys a trio of pussies!" The look on his face was one of pure disappointment. "I mean, I expected this from Morita and Komuro, but you too, Gojo?"

I felt more than a little upset that my best friend was lecturing me on how to appropriately treat women.

"Sorry, man. I know you shouldn't talk about your female friends like that to your guy buddies, but I just-"

"That's not what I mean!"

"Huh?"

Ryoyuki put a hand on my shoulder. "It's cool, man. You've got your interests and that's fine. However…" He turned to Komuro and Morita. "These guys on the other hand need a lesson in what a true woman really is!"

He smirked before making a fist of confidence. "I mean who needs kids? Older women are where it's really at!"

"O-older women?" Komuro asked.

It was then that I face faulted. What did he just say?

_Oh god, not this again!_

I forget to mention one thing about my friend here: he only had a thing for older women, particularly Hayashi-sensei as well as Shizuka Marikawa, the school nurse. With that, Ryoyuki reached into his gakuran and took out a violet red notebook, the cover art not unlike that of Morita's.

"There's only two listed here, but I think that'll be more than enough to wake ya both up! First up…"

The first picture he turned to showed a busty, blonde haired adult woman in a school swimsuit. From the looks of it she appeared to have taken off a swim cap as well as a pair of goggles.

It was undoubtedly Doc Marikawa.

"The school nurse: Shizuka Marikawa! She's gotta bombshell body and a great smile to boot! I'd let her examine me any day!"

"Mmm!" Komuro did this in agreement.

"Yep, those boobs are really killer." Mortia nodded his head.

"You're finally wising up!" Ryoyuki had a proud smirk. He then turned to me. "By the way, isn't that other friend of yours her assistant?"

"You mean Kazu? Yeah, that's right."

Kazu Ishii was another good friend of mine from class 2-D. He was kind of paranoid and nervous, but still a good guy. Usually he was seen assisting Doc with carrying her medical supplies while she carried his notebook.

"Do ya think that maybe Ishii and Shizuka-sensei-"

I raised my hands in protest. "No way, you know that kind of relationship between teacher and student is strictly forbidden!"

"Sakakibara's right. Besides, Ishii doesn't look like the type to get with an adult anyway. The guy's practically more hopeless with girls than Morita."

"Hey!"

I sighed. I didn't want to admit it, but Kazu really didn't have much luck in the ladies department.

"Anyways, here's the other one." Ryo turned the page to reveal the other woman. She had dark red hair in a loose ponytail. She had a pair of glasses in one hand and a ping-pong handle in the other. Her clothing in the photo was the ping-pong club's uniform with the number 083 on the left shoulder.

"The ping-pong club's advisor: Kyoko Hayashi!" He explained. "Her body's totally filled out, plus she gives off this aura like she's unsatisfied with her life! The only one who can satisfy her is me!"

My friend closed his eyes and drooled with pleasure.

_Why am I not surprised?_

Komuro and Morita were both horrified as they stared at Ryoyuki.

"He- HE ONLY LIKES OLD LADIES!" They both held each other in terror as they backed into a corner of the roof.

I decided to cut in at that moment, trying desperately to contain my laughter. "Aren't you forgetting one, Ryoyuki? There's also Mrs. Allison Maresato who lives next door from us."

He snapped his fingers in recognition. "Oh yeah! The mom who lives next door!"

Komuro paled. "Th-the mom next door?"

"THE FRIGGIN' MOM NEXT DOOR!" Morita exclaimed.

Allison-san was a news reporter here in Tokonosu. She lived with her husband Ryo, who was a newspaper columnist, and their only daughter Alice in Eastern Tokonosu, right next to our home. They were a close-knit family with a lot of love.

"A woman's at her best shape when she's just a bit mature!" I saw Ryoyuki with a perverse face waving his arms around in the air suggestively.

Komuro then hung his head and Morita packed up his guitar. They began walking away in a daze.

"I've got band practice." Morita said weakly.

"And I think I'm gonna head back to the dorms…" Komuro added.

Deciding that I'd had enough of all this girl talk, I decided to follow them. When I look back and saw Ryoyuki still grasping at the air.

"I'm gonna go now, Ryo! Don't take too long, ya hear me?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Idiot was probably going to be there all night. I speed walked up to the waltzing duo to find them still talking.

"Whew!" Morita exclaimed. "That was really weird!"

"True." Komuro added. "But you got to admit, it was kind of funny!"

"It's good to be alive! I'm gonna try to get closer to one of those girls we talked about! Every day is full of opportunity!"

"Haha, how wise of you."

I chuckled a bit at their optimism. Looking up in the sky showed that a plane was passing. The sun was setting and it was time to call it a day.

"See ya around!" Morita waved goodbye as we went down one hallway.

"Bye!" Komuro waved.

The two of us reached the ground floor and got outside. Taking in a breath of yet more fresh air, I sighed in content. I put an arm around Komuro.

"Hey." I told him. "Don't let this ruin your life. Like Morita said, there are still plenty of more girls around here to bond with."

"I know but…once you bond with one and then lose them, you never forget what it was like. Trust me." Komuro looked at the plane disappearing over the horizon. "You never forget."

I sighed before he turned to me with a sad smile. "I'm gonna get some sleep. You?"

"I'm going into town, get something to eat. See you around."

"See ya."

With that I dashed off towards the front gate. After exiting the school grounds, I ran into town. I enjoyed that night hanging around the bar and other various spots. Yes…it was all very satisfying. And yet, there was a voice calling inside my head. It said: "Are you really having fun?" I was never able to answer it at the time.

Little did I know at the time, that all the chirping crickets that night and the following nights towards the end, were all desperately trying to warn me. To warn me of everything that was going to happen on April 5th, 2010.

The eventual decay, hidden beneath such a stable world.

_(End)_

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><p><strong>A's N:<strong>

So how do you like it? I put a lot of effort into it, so I hope to get a lot of praise. Please review! Any kind of review is welcome. Look forward to next chapter!

**Update:**

Had to change some names due to recent translations in the TV Animation Complete File book. Revealed some new character names and weapons.


	2. Chapter 1: Spring of the Dead

**Author's Note:**

Welcome back, everyone! Here's chapter 1 of _Dead Scars_! Having woken up late, Gojo rushes to school without getting caught. Deciding to skip classes, he lays under the sakura petals until he witnesses an awful sight at the front gate. Soon the whole school's in a panic and blood is splattered everywhere. Realizing the danger, Gojo vows to find his friends and escape. Along the way, Gojo discovers that he may have somehow acquired an astonishing new power.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own HOTD! The series and all characters and plot devices (except the original ones I add) are property of Daisuke and Shoji Sato (writers of the original manga) and Madhouse Studios (who created the anime).

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><p><strong><span>Dead Scars<span>**

**Chapter 1: Spring of the Dead**

"_I stayed up late on the night before everything came to an end."_

_These words were said by Fujimi Academy sophomore Takashi Komuro several days after the start of the Z-era; when the shiningen came into our world. The other night he had been playing online games with his friends._

_We continued to live our lives up until 4/5/10, when They assaulted Fujimi. Our friends, lovers, siblings, instructors and alike were killed, devoured, and in turn became one of the undead hoard. Thinking back on it now, when the first one of Them first arrived at the front gate, I should had rushed up and bashed his skull in before he had gotten to Tejima-sensei, than Hayashi-sensei, and soon the entire school._

_Frankly, I'm amazed that any of us made it through the first hour, let alone the first day._

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><p>Dawn.<p>

That's right: dawn. There were sunrays leaking through the window shields. I felt the heat of those rays on my face. Moaning slightly, I rose out of my bed, lifting the blankets off of me. I rubbed my eyes, getting rid of any sand in them. Then I walked over to the window and opened the blinds.

It was a beautiful day. Sun was shining, sky was nice and blue; there were clouds up there, but they were white and fluffy as could be. It was in that moment I realized that I had to head to school. I turned to face the clock to see how much time was left. I blinked a few times to ensure that I wasn't still half asleep. If this was the correct time, then…

10:06 AM

"Jesus Christ, I'm late!" I couldn't believe my eyes! Almost never was _I_ late to school before! What the hell was wrong with me today?

I immediately rushed to the shower to get cleaned up. Then I took out my hair-gel in order to get it nice and spiky. As soon as I determined it to be ready, I reached into the fridge and just took out an ice pop to eat instead. Not the healthiest of breakfast choices, but what're you gonna do?

After changing into my gakuran, I was out the door carrying my school bag and my bokken. I was dashing like a beast to get to the school. _Why the hell didn't Ryoyuki wake me up! Usually he just bursts into the family room shouting "Get the fuck up!" Shit!_

It had been 14 days since the two of us, along with Morita and Komuro, had talked about those girls on the roof of our school. It had also only been one month since the first semester of our second year had begun. Despite Fujimi being a private school, meaning the expectations were higher than the public schools I attended back in the states, I enjoyed my first year here and was determined to make the second just as good, if not even better. Also, I made it a top priority to finally tell either Misuzu or Toshimi how I really felt about them.

Yes…at first the day of April 5th, 2010 seemed like a normal blissful day. How wrong all of us were, as we would soon find out at noon; during fifth period, at 12:14 PM.

Indeed. Everything about the era we had grown up in…was about to cease to exist.

* * *

><p>I was finally inside Fujimi's grounds, panting for breath. When I caught myself, I took a moment to examine the campus grounds.<p>

It was a truly magnificent spectacle. Cherry blossoms were floating all around as the wind blew in my face. This was a good day (in terms of weather, at least).

Believe it or not, when not in class, life here at Fujimi was pretty leisurely. There were many clubs to partake in; including kendo, sojutsu, ping-pong, karate, judo, swimming, baseball, basketball, computer forensics, etc. Yep, you name it, it's here! There's also the observatory at the top of the lecture hall's roof. I only had a minor interest in astronomy, but I still stopped by every now and then to gaze at the stars and planets.

I had a large ring of friends both male and female. I had Ryoyuki, Misuzu and Toshimi, Busujima-taicho, Kazu and Okada, Oda, Aidamaru, and Kurokami. As for Komuro, Morita, Igo, Takeda, Ozaki, Takagi, and Murashi, they were more like acquaintances than good friends. We still got along, though. Well, except for Saya Takagi. It seemed that she always had something about someone else to ridicule or chastise, or sometimes just downright insult.

Morita wasn't kidding when he said Takagi was a bitch. Sure she had grades, appearance, and even smarts, but her critical personality didn't leave her with much of a social life. Komuro, who's known her since they were children, told me once that he hadn't been able to win a single argument since they started kindergarten.

In any case, for some reason, I didn't end up going to class that fateful day. My reasoning; I suppose that I allowed my being late to school to get to me. Like I said before, I had almost _never_ been late to school, let alone any of my classes, and when I had, it was due to either doctor or dentist appointments. To me, being late simply due to oversleep seemed shameful. Me and Ryoyuki weren't staying at the dorms unlike most of the other students, so we had a longer walk to school. That being said, on the surface it wouldn't appear too unusual for us to be late every now and then. However, I always made sure to get to school early so I'd never miss a class.

After all, the last thing I wanted to become is a slacker who often skips like Komuro, Morita, and Ryoyuki.

You see, none of the faculty heavily enforced attendance for some reason. I still have no idea why. Of course I never took advantage of this like some of my other friends did. I just like to keep my grades up so not to have to take summer school or additional lessons. After all, being vice-captain of the kendo club meant that your plate was full on a constant basis.

Guess being a straight A student wasn't all it's cracked up to be. Now I know how the main characters of _Kare Kano_ feel.

Walking around and hiding from the P.E. teachers combing the campus proved to be tiring after a while. Eventually I found myself not too far from the front gate. Up on a ledge near the staircase there was a small patch of grass with a cherry blossom tree. The ground was practically smothered with cherry blossoms. It looked comfy.

Sighing I laid down on the makeshift flowerbed. Having been abruptly awakened earlier, I felt like catching up on some rest. As I lay under the sakura tree, my soul felt unusually at peace. Yes, this made feel peace of mind.

Quiet, serenity, calmness, whichever you call it. It was all really damn good.

…_her_

What?

_Asher! Have you gotten it yet?_

_Almost, dad! Almost!_

_Hurry it up! If you have the time to spend cooped up there all day, than there's more than enough time for you to help!_

_Why don't you go to hell, you son of a bitch!_

My eyes opened. I noticed that I was still under the tree, lying on the bed of cherry petals. I stretched myself out before getting back to sleep. But still…

_Why did I remember that, I wonder?_

I grunted, closing my eyes and trying to block out the painful memories in from life in the states. My parents and I didn't necessarily see eye to eye, to put it mildly. In the end things got so bad that I ran away from home and escaped overseas. When I was lying in the harbor, injured, Ryoyuki who had been coming back from gambling night found me and got me to a hospital. Afterwards, we quickly developed a brotherly bound and we became roommates (not _that_ kind of roommate). Like me, Ryo was constantly chewed out by his father. His mother always sided with his old man so relying on her was useless. In the end, when Imamura-san got a job transfer to Osaka, Ryo decided to stay behind; as a result he had no income.

When my injuries had fully healed, I went out and was able to land a good paying job so we could keep two irons in the fire. Of course, some of the money ended up going to waste due to Ryo's habit of having bad luck at gambling. I went over to their gambling place once after Aidamaru talked me into it, but it was so boring that I left halfway. Since then, I've never gone back even when girls came to the "parties".

_Besides,_ I thought whenever I heard their offers. _I have Misuzu and Toshimi's feelings to think about._

I rolled to my side and rested my head on cherry petal pillows. This felt nice; softer than any pillow I had ever rested my head on.

It was then that I heard footsteps approaching me. At first I thought one of the teachers had found me and was coming to take me to class. Sighing in irritation, I looked up just in time to see the owner of those footsteps standing over me.

"Hey, man! Didn't think you of all people would be cutting class!"

"Oda."

The owner of the steps was Junichi Oda, one of my male friends. Like Ryoyuki, Oda was also one of those "badass nice once you get know him" kind of guys. He had brown hair, though it was covered by a white bandana, which he wore all the time. In addition, he had a small red tattoo under his right eye and had his gakuran open, exposing a dark yellow shirt.

The one thing I had against Oda was that he had a girlfriend, unlike Ryo, Aidamaru, and myself. Girl's name was Saki Fujishi. I met her a few times, but not enough to define her character too well. What I did know is that she and Oda were close and that the girl was part of the volleyball club. Oda himself had been in a few fights since his last year of middle school. The origins of this violent nature stemmed from his difficult childhood. His father married a hooker that he met at a strip club having birthed the child a week before the marriage. However, the vile woman, no fewer than 4 months into their marriage, stole all of the Oda clan savings from their account and disappeared. Since then, Oda had to stop attending school at certain points in order to help his dad meet ends. I felt so bad for them that I donated money from my own paycheck whenever I had spare cash.

Answering I said: "Yeah, I overslept and Ryo left me behind for some reason. I couldn't face the teachers due to my perfect attendance last year, so I decided to skip."

"Eh, what can you do?" Oda responded casually. "Ya can't always be number one. Life would be way too easy then."

"Don't give me that cliché line. Unlike you and Ryoyuki, at least I'm wise enough to know when not to pick a fight."

"Fuck you, asshole."

There was no true hostile intent in either of those comments. It wasn't at all unusual for male friends to casually swear while in conversation. Yet the fact that I was actually late made this type of converse brand new to me. Why I felt so out of place having this simple talk I just couldn't seem to get.

"So how are things with Fujishi?" I asked.

"Too damn good, my man! Just the other night, we went to the beach. You know, the one by the Sevenson Gas Station? Saki-chan looked so kaaawaaaiii in her red bikini!" Oda's eyes lit up with hearts as he creepily wiggled his body. I sweat dropped, feeling even more out of place than before. My head hung in despair as the atmosphere around me gloomed.

Oda was quick to notice this and sat down beside me. After he did, his cheerful expression turned somewhat sad, though he still gave a small smile.

"Come to think of it," He said nonchalantly. "You've barely gotten anywhere with Ichijo and Niki, huh?"

"Thanks for refreshing that painful memory."

He put a hand on my shoulder in comfort. Since he didn't seem like he was going to say anything else at the moment, I decided to continue.

"I mean, I'm in love with both of them, damn it! Misuzu for her strong determination, charm, and outgoing sense of duty, and Toshimi for being kindhearted and considerate even at points when most others would've just lashed out in anger or annoyance. When it comes down it, I wouldn't expect anyone to understand my situation. If I choose one, the other gets hurt, and I'll look like a bad guy regardless."

At this point Oda took his hand off and put both that and his other hand in his pockets. He stared into the bright sky like he was giving something a great deal of thought. Finally, he turned to me and said: "Hey buddy, in a situation like this, the way to fixing it isn't as complex as you make it sound. In a situation like this, all you have to do is say to the other girl 'I'm sorry, but I'm clearly in love with _her_, but I'm hoping that we can still be good friends' than you extend and shake hands on it. It would be like a man to man promise!"

I sighed. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether or not to feel thankful or irritated at Oda's suggestion. On one hand, I felt thankful for Oda trying to give me a suggestion like this. And yet, there was also frustration because he didn't understand that a girl's heart isn't as simple as a boy's.

"Thanks, Oda." I said to my friend. "But it's not as simple as you make it out to be. Not to sound sexist or anything, but a girl's soul isn't like a boy's. It technically cannot be a man to man promise if the one you exchange vows with is a woman. Besides, what if she takes it the _unmanly_ way and says that she hates my guts?" Putting a real enthuses on the word "unmanly".

He grinned before answering. "Guess you're screwed then!"

We shared a moment of silence before both of us laughed at the joke. After which, we went back to lying down on the flower bed. The wind blew swiftly, in the process blowing several cherry blossoms around for all to see.

What a nice day. Truly it didn't get better than-

_Clank_

_Huh?_

At that very moment, an everlasting nightmare began abruptly.

_Clank_

I sat up to see what the source of the noise was. Oda rose soon afterwards.

"What's going on?" He asked, still half asleep.

I hushed him as I continued to look for the source of the noise. What was that sound, like an iron pipe hitting another pipe? My eyes wondered around until they glanced upon the front gate about a few kilometers away.

Then I saw him; the person who would change everything.

There was a man at the front gate who appeared to be waltzing into it. Age wise, he was by my estimate in his 30s or 40s and about 5.6ft tall. His hair was dark brown and he wore a grey business suit with a white shirt and black tie. The expression on his face was stoic as he kept banging himself into the gate.

"Who's he?" I asked aloud.

"Dunno." A stumped Oda replied. "Maybe a drunkard or a drug addict?"

I sort of brushed off his answer as I continued to observe the strange man. Something about him didn't look right. The rigid way that his body moved as he kept on bashing himself into the front gate looked pretty creepy. He also did not cry out or make any noise each time he hit the gate. That emotionless face of his remained unchanged as he continued to do whatever he was trying to accomplish. Not to mention his arms were raised to his sides as he did so, them occasionally reaching through the bars of the gate. His eyes also appeared blank, not void of pupils, but more like that he was possessed by something.

My gut was telling me that whatever the guy was trying to do, it wasn't anything good. Before I could think of anything else on the matter, my eyes caught four of the P.E. teachers making their way to the entrance. I recognized each of them.

The teacher in the lead was Kyoko Hayashi; who I remembered was included in Ryoyuki's report. She was the ping-pong club's advisor and very strict. She had dark red hair tied in a loose ponytail and a pair of glasses rested over her brown eyes. Her clothing consisted of a white vest over a green undershirt that partially exposed her large chest; along with a long black skirt.

To the right was the karate club teacher, Seita Tejima. He has spiky grayish black hair and wore a high-collar blue shirt with long sleeves along with grey jeans that had large pockets in the front. In contrast to Hayashi-sensei, Tejima-sensei was far more casual and easygoing. Though he could be violent and a tad arrogant at times, he was still a decent guy. At other times, however, he discussed what most would consider way too much information on his private life. He may have had somewhat flawed character, but was by no means ill-intended.

The teacher on the right was an older man with receding grey hair. He wore a dark green vest over a white shirt with a black tie and he carried a metal pole with two prongs at the end. His name was Joji Uchiyamada, the lacrosse team's supervisor.

As for the fourth teacher, Go Kamigawa, who was behind Hayashi and Tejima-sensei, he wore a blue sweatshirt along with matching pants. He had black hair which was styled in a buzz cut. The guy was the vice-coach of the judo club under Maro Takayama, the club's leader.

At last the teachers reached the entrance while the man continued his unusual behavior. Hayashi-sensei adjusted her glasses as she spoke to the man.

"Excuse me, sir. But what do you think you're doing? And who are you?" She asked sternly. If the guy on the other side was listening, he gave no sign. He just kept hitting the iron gate.

"I'll have you know that this is a private academy! Stop this behavior at once!" I couldn't help but notice that Tejima-sensei turned to Hayashi-sensei and smirked a little. It was really no big secret that the two had the hots for each other. Most if not all of Fujimi Academy knew about the two teachers seeing each other outside of work. Of course, this did not entirely distract me from the mysterious man. As if reacting to Hayashi-sensei's warnings, the man stopped banging and just stared at the teachers, his blank expression not changing.

Kamigawa-sensei started to sweat a little at the man's sudden change in attitude. Me and Oda just stared, wondering what the hell was going on.

The female teacher craned her neck slightly, as if waiting for an answer. "Did you hear me? Leave at once before I call the police!" It was then that we all heard a slight moan from the man outside. I was right; the man was definitely not here for a leisurely visit, and I also somehow doubted that he was the father of one of the students here.

Just then, Tejima-sensei extended his arm before Hayashi-sensei could say anything else. "It's alright, Hayashi-sensei." He was still smiling as he walked up to the gate; giving Hayashi a wink at which she blushed slightly. "There's no need to call anyone. I'll handle this!" Tejima rolled up the sleeve on his left arm moments before he reached through the bars. With that, he grabbed the man by his collar and roughly banged him into the gate. "Now listen here!" He shouted.

_That Tejima, always showing off!_ I thought.

Hayashi and Kamigawa were surprised at this. "H-hey now!" Kamigawa exclaimed.

"Tejima-sensei!" Hayashi complained. "Please don't resort to violence!"

"Yeah, but…" Tejima began to retort, but stopped suddenly. He appeared to be baffled by the man for some reason. I narrowed my eyes to see what it was. I than noticed that when Tejima-sensei hit the man on gate, the latter's mouth opened and he had something in it. What could it have been?

Then we knew. Out of the man's mouth and onto the pavement on the teacher's side came several cylinder-shaped objects. Hayashi-sensei looked down at the objects and suddenly paled. Tejima glanced at them too and his eyes widened in alarm. "What the fuck?" He said. "ARE THOSE FINGERS!"

"EEEEEEKKKK!" Hayashi backed away in horror, falling on her ass in the process. "POLICE!" She hollered. Kamigawa also jumped back. "What the hell?" Uchiyamada-sensei looked subtlety surprised, but he still seemed to be the calmest of the four there. As for me and Oda, both of us now on our feet, we just stared at the scene and didn't say anything, though I was holding my bokken now.

Suddenly, the nightmare _truly_ began.

The finger eating man's expression suddenly went from solemn to crazed. His eyes appeared to roll back into his head and he showed his teeth. With Tejima-sensei and the others still staring at the severed fingers, the man broke free from the karate teacher's grasp, grabbed the latter's arm with both hands, and bit into it. Blood gushed out as he did.

"AUGH!" Tejima was taken aback by this sudden hostility. The man tore a chunk from his arm as Tejima backed away. He fell back and hit his head against the concrete, but I was too stupefied by what the man did to him to really care much.

My eyes widened in shock, my mouth also slightly agape. "What the fuck?" I heard Oda murmur.

Back at the front gate, Tejima-sensei was struggling on the ground, screaming in pain. Hayashi-sensei and the others gathered around to try and help him.

"What the hell just happened?" Kamigawa-sensei shouted as tried to calm the downed teacher.

"It looked like the man took a bite out of him." Uchiyamada-sensei replied, putting down his pole as he ran over to Tejima.

"You mean he was _EATING_ him?"

"Exactly!"

_Eating?_

Hayashi-sensei was frantic. "Someone call 110! Get the police and Dr. Marikawa too! While you're at it get an ambulance, and stop him from bleeding!"

Tejima was still writhing on the ground in agony as Uchiyamada grabbed his arm in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

"It's no use! I can't stop it!" He turned to Kamigawa as Hayashi joined them. "What are you waiting for? Call an ambulance!" Then he ran back to his pole and picked it back up.

At this point I was panicking, though the only sign of it visible was the shocked look I still had on. Oda, however, was much braver about showing his fear.

"We gotta get the hell out of here!" He grabbed my shoulder and shook me. "Hey, Sakakibara! You listening? We gotta go now!"

I just shrugged him off of me. Still staring at the teachers trying to help Tejima-sensei, I reached into my pocket. Out I took my cell phone. I knew that using it anywhere on campus was against regulations, but in this case I hardly think that anyone would mind. I dialed 110 on my phone (the Japanese equivalent to America's 911, in case some didn't know) and put it to my ear.

"What're you doing?" Oda asked frantically. "You gonna call the fuzz and tell them to come over here?"

"Hello?" I asked as soon as the ringing stopped, answering Oda's question in the process. "There's been a…" Then I trailed off. Instead of a cop on the other side of the line, there was a voice machine.

My eyes widened. What was going on? Was there something else going on elsewhere in Tokonosu?

Closing the phone I placed it back in my pocket. "Well?" Oda demanded anxiously. "Is help gonna come, cause there's no way we can deal with someone who took down Tejima!"

Deciding that lying would be pointless I said. "No, we'll have to escape ourselves."

"Say what?"

I didn't respond to that. I was too busy gazing out at the teachers. Tejima-sensei convulsed one last time before moaning one last moan, after which he stopped moving. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth. Uchiyamada-sensei, despite one of his coworkers having supposedly died, still seemed rather calm, albeit quite confused. Kamigawa-sensei simply looked disgusted, while Hayashi-sensei had tears in her eyes. She covered her mouth, trying to hold back crying.

"Oh my god, he's dead!" Uchiyamada exclaimed, gripping his metal pole tightly.

"But, that's impossible." Hayashi whimpered. "It was just a bite on the arm! That alone shouldn't have…" She trailed off when she fell to the ground in tears. We heard her crying, and to be honest, I felt heartbroken for her. The sensei just lost the love of her life and there was a killer just outside waiting for his next victim. If I had been in her position, I would've been completely devastated.

Glancing at Tejima's corpse, I immediately noticed something. Despite being dead, Tejima-sensei's other arm (the one that hadn't been bitten by the man) was twitching slightly. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Was I seeing things? Hayashi-sensei noticed this and smiled.

"Tejima-sensei?" She asked. "Are you alright?" Tejima's eyes twitched slightly before opening. I immediately knew something was off. The look in the karate teacher's eyes didn't look human. It was the exact same savage look the man at the gate had gotten when he bit Tejima. Though his eyes were placed on Hayashi, at the same time the look was blank, just like the guy at the gate.

"Oh, Tejima-sensei, thank god! For a moment there I thought you had-" Before I could shout out a warning for her to get away, Tejima suddenly grabbed Hayashi by her vest and pulled her in. He promptly opened his mouth and chomped down on her neck.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed as Tejima overwhelmed her with his strength, knocking her down on the pavement. I wasn't sure at first what he was doing as he lay on top of her, but then I saw his mouth moving, still gnawing on Hayashi's neck.

Something rose in my stomach at that moment. It wasn't sickness, it was stark terror.

Speaking of terror, Uchiyamada fell back in both shock and horror, dropping his weapon in the process. Kamigawa in the meantime decided that he didn't feel like sticking around anymore and ran off. I noticed that he was about to pass by us so I tried to get his attention.

"Sensei!" I called after him. "What the hell was all that about?"

He turned to look at us but didn't stop running. "What're you kids doing here? You should be running! Get out of here!" Kamigawa shouted before he disappeared inside the school.

Watching him go for a while, we both turned back to the scene at the gate. To our surprise, Uchiyamada was swinging his pole at Tejima and Hayashi, both back on their feet and staggering towards him. Their skin was an unhealthy shade of grey and their eyes were rolled back. Even more disturbing were the moans they were emitting, also like the man who started this mess. Speaking of whom, the man was once again just standing there like a statue. Instead of the emotionless look he had when he first arrived, this time he maintained a look of savagery, staring at us with pure rage.

It was so damn chilling I had to look away. When I saw Oda, I could see how spooked he was. I shook him for a bit to snap him out of it.

"Oda! Oda!" I whispered furiously. He jumped, finally coming back to his senses. "Wha- What's going on?" He was petrified to the bone.

"We are leaving…now! Come on!" I gestured for him to follow me and we ran off.

Behind us, the death screams of Uchiyamada could be heard. Paling, I didn't know at the time that things were only going to get worse.

* * *

><p><em>Run! Run! Run!<em>

This was all that my brain was telling me at the moment. As I carried my bokken in defensive stance, dashing through the school courtyards, my mind was still racing about what had happened at the gate. The zombie-like man who had appeared at the front gate, Tejima-sensei being killed, and then in turn he suddenly came back to life and killed Hayashi-sensei, and to top it off, they both get up and start acting like-

_But that's absurd! There's no way that zombies can possibly exist, right?_

Of course I was right. Zombies were just a work of fiction. After all, the only alternative explanation was that it was a drug that the gate-rammer had caught and biting someone was the only way to transfer the virus. Yet that theory was also ridiculous. Or so we thought at the time…

Anyways, Oda and I kept running in between the buildings, hoping to find someplace safe. Then suddenly, something pricked my mind. With that, I dashed off in a different direction.

"Where're you going, man?" Oda called out to me. "The north gate's this way!" He pointed in the direction we were headed prior to my reconsideration.

"No. I've got to find them; Misuzu…and Toshimi too!" I continued to run like hell towards the supply shed in the distance. The loves of my life were very likely to be in danger right now; I had to do something!

Oda sighed in frustration before coming after me. "Dammit, your obsession with them is gonna get you killed! Killed by…whatever that guy did to those sensei back there! Are you even considering the possibility that you might die?" I skidded to a stop when he brought up that point. Thinking about it for a bit, I sighed.

"To be honest, I was so tense about what happened earlier that thought never even crossed my mind. But if I let either of them die I'd never forgive myself and-"

When I turned to look at my friend, I stopped. Oda was glancing down between two of the buildings. He appeared to be focused on something.

"What's going on?" I walked up to where he was standing. "Do you see-" I stopped when I glanced down the alleyway. We could see smoke rise from somewhere down there, which did not make any sense since there were no chimneys at Fujimi, let alone any fire pits.

Upon further inspection, we could see a student sitting up against the right wall and smoking. He had dark, somewhat blue tinted hair that was shoulder length. He wore his gakuran jacket open which exposed an electric blue shirt that had the words "BAD LINE" printed on. In addition, he had earrings in his right ear and on his arms there was a bracelet on one and a few rings on the other.

It was my roommate and best friend, Ryoyuki Imamura.

* * *

><p>In the alleyway, between two of Fujimi Academy's buildings, Ryoyuki Imamura smoked a cigar that had been part of a collection left behind by his father.<p>

_What a boring day!_ He thought solemnly. Indeed, his attempts at attracting older women had failed miserably, his grades were mediocre, not to mention all the delinquents in the senior department of the school wanted to kick his ass for "being such a showoff".

Imamura did care about trying to look badass, but not in a sense to show off to people. Well, not to show off to rugged males, of course. Older women, especially college-age girls, were the intended targets. Reading a lot of porno magazines would have that kind of effect on you.

Blowing more smoke, he sang a song just to stave off boredom.

_Oh, at wits' end, the trouble I see_

_Ohhhhh, how much I want to see_

_But then comes the wringer of life_

_Here to take that away from us_

_Here come the zombies_

_Here come the zom-_

"Imamura!"

Ryoyuki turned to see who had shouted his name. Upon seeing that we were approaching him he put out his cigar while making an irritated noise. Clearly he had thought that we were one of the teachers who were roaming about the campus, about to discipline him for smoking.

But this irritation quickly turned to relief when he saw Oda and me panting for breath. "Oh, what's up Oda? It's just you." Ryo than glanced my way, a smile spreading on his face. "Gojo's here too, eh? Yeesh, don't scare me like that! I thought it was one of the teachers coming for me! You guys want a smoke or something?" He lifted his pack of cigarettes and took out a lighter.

I felt a little irked at his carefree behavior; of course, he would have had no idea about what was going on at the present, having not witnessed the monstrosity that occurred at the entrance. Speed walking over to him, I grabbed him by the wrist and holstered him up.

"Hey, man! What the hell's your problem?" He wrestled his arm away from me. Oda then came up to us, leaning closer to Ryo so he could explain secretively. "There were a few murders at the front gate; no bullshit!"

Ryoyuki's eyes widened slightly at this. But then he just closed his eyes and lit another cigar, clearly not believing him. "Yeah, right." He completely dismissed the warning, much to Oda's irritation.

"This isn't a joke!" He said a bit louder. Before he could say any more, I put my arm out, which Oda could tell was his cue to shut up.

"What he's saying is the truth, Imamura."

Ryo winced. He knew that whenever I addressed him by his family name that I was being serious about what I was saying to him. With that he tossed his cigar away without bothering to put it out, though it was no potential fire hazard from my point of view.

"You serious?" He asked with a small hint of worry in his voice.

To ensure that I was getting my point across to him, I lifted my bokken and hit it hard against a metal pipe that was on the wall of the building behind me.

"YES, I'M SERIOUS! SO JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

Taken aback by my words, as was Oda, Ryoyuki suddenly narrowed his eyes in seriousness. After being together for a year and a half, my soul brother was able to read me quite easily

"All right then. Let's go."

I glanced at Oda, who gave me a somewhat half-assed nod.

"Come on!" I signaled with my hand and we were off.

* * *

><p>The three of us were speed walking to the supply shed. It had been about ten minutes after we had found Ryo in the alley. My logic behind the shed was that we'd all need weapons if we ended up having to defend ourselves or to fight. I already had my bokken on me, so there was no need for me to get anything else. However, Ryo and Oda both needed some tools. Despite Ryo having practiced capoeria and Oda being quite the street fighter, I still felt that weapons were the best way to go, especially after seeing someone as tough as Tejima-sensei being easily killed like that.<p>

"So Gojo, mind explaining what happened at the gate? You said there was a murder, but how'd it happen?"

I wasn't sure how to properly answer Ryo's question. After all, who would believe that a psycho just walked up to the school and killed a teacher, and said teacher came back as one of the living dead? However, once again it seemed pointless to fill people with false hope and lie.

"A strange man appeared at the entrance and was banging himself into the gate." I carefully explained. "Tejima-sensei and some of the other P.E. teachers went to go check it out. Then when Tejima-sensei went up to threaten him violently…" I trailed off. Would Ryo even believe me if I told him the rest of the story? There was always the possibility that he could just walk away and possibly get killed, and I would need all the help I could get if I was going to find Misuzu and Toshimi.

That being said, I decided to talk around the subject. "Then…something went wrong. And now…" I trailed off yet again. Was there no other way to explain this without making it sound like I was crazy?

"Then what?" Ryo asked, anxious to hear more.

I sighed before continuing. "And now those teachers have started killing each other." I also decided that it would be best not to mention that Hayashi-sensei was killed in the scuffle. Who knew how he would take it.

Ryo's eyes widened, though more in confusion than genuine fear. "Wait. That doesn't make any sense. Why would the coaches turn on each other because of an intruder? Sounds pretty fucked up if you ask me."

"I hear ya." Oda responded. "Then again, crazy people _do_ exist so what're you gonna do?"

Mostly ignoring my friends' comments, I went into the supply shed to see if there was anything for them to use. To my disappointment, the only thing inside the shed that looked suitable was a baseball bat sitting in the corner. Everything else had been cleared out, undoubtedly by the sports team playing outside right now, still ignorant to the lingering danger now roaming the campus.

_Beggars can't be choosers, right?_ I thought as I picked up the bat and ran back out.

"Where the hell were you?" Ryo asked.

"If what happened at the entrance ends up trying to kill us, we'll need weapons right? I have my wooden sword on me, so I'm good, but you two need something as well." I held up the bat. "Any takers? It was all I could find in there since the sports teams seem to have taken everything else."

"Lemme have it!" Ryoyuki snatched it from me and made a practice swing like in actual baseball. "Strike!" He jokingly shouted, adding a tiny smirk to the picture. I couldn't help but smile. At least Ryo was able to have somewhat of a joking mood, even in the middle of this hell.

"As for you, Oda-" I began, but I was cut off when the other boy reached into his pocket and took out a pair of brass knuckles. "It's cool. I've got these, so I'll be okay with my fists."

My eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?" I flashed back to Tejima when he got bitten and changed because he was arrogant enough to think that using his fists would be enough to get the madman to leave.

As if he read my mind Oda placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It'll be fine, dude. Trust me!"

"If you say so." To be honest, his confidence did nothing to boost my own.

Ryo had finished practicing his swings and made his way back. "So what's the plan? What're we gonna do?"

I gave it some thought before answering. "Well, I'm going to try to find Misuzu and Toshimi, and then I plan on getting off of the school grounds. But first I need to ask: what are both of _your_ plans?"

Oda came up first. "I guess I'll help you out. But afterwards, we go find Saki-chan and get the hell out of here!"

Nodding, I turned to Ryo. "And you, Ryoyuki?"

He just shrugged casually, though the look on his face was still somewhat worried.

"I'll stick with you guys. Besides, you know that you wouldn't last a second without me, right?" He joked putting a brotherly arm around me.

"Guess not."

"So where do we look first?" Oda inquired.

"First we'll check the lecture halls to see if they're in class. Even if we don't find them, we should try to gather as many people as we can and that we can trust and escape this place."

"Right!" Both of them said simultaneously.

I glanced towards the other buildings, wondering how the others besides the two girls were doing.

_How're you doing Kazu? Nobuo? Busujima-taicho? Kurokami? Aidamaru?_

"And also," I paused a bit before adding. "Under no circumstances can we let anyone we don't know that well know about what occurred at the gate. If a sudden panic ensues, that will only make things more mountainous for us, not to mention make it virtually impossible for us to escape. You understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Ryo spat on his hand and we shared a spit shake. Just then, he got a look of confusion. "Wait, come to think of it, you have your phone with you, right? Why didn't you just call the cops?"

My eyes hardened. "Do you think I haven't tried that already?"

"That's right!" Oda added. "You called them right after Tejima got bitten, but then you hung up and said that no one was coming. Why's that?"

Sighing grimly, I took out my phone, placed it on speaker phone, and handed to Ryo. "See for yourself." I muttered. We watched as Ryo waited for the ringing to stop and then heard him say: "Hello?" Then suddenly, his eyes widened. No doubt he was hearing the voice machine that I heard.

_This is a recording. We're experiencing an unusually high volume of 110 calls. All operators are busy. Please wait on the line or try again another time. I repeat, this a recording…_

"110 is busy? But that's bullshit!" He quietly exclaimed.

At that time we heard the intercom go live from the faculty building. The three of us turned to it to hear what the announcer wanted to say.

"Uh, attention everyone…" My eyes widened. It was Kamigawa-sensei's voice on the line. He had escaped the zombies out front and was trying to warn the school about what was going down.

_That idiot!_ I thought to myself. _Doesn't he realize the panic he'd cause if he told everyone that there was a serial killer on the school grounds?_

I couldn't help but notice that Kamigawa was stuttering, as if his hands were trembling on the microphone. Sure he was pretty shaken up when he fled the murder scene and dashed inside, but this time it seemed to come from the immediate fear of something, not something from a moment ago. What exactly was going on up there?

"A violent assault has just taken place on the school grounds! Please, all students stay with your teachers and evacuate immediately!"

I gulped. _It's only a matter of time now…_

"You guys…" Ryoyuki said, his eyes never looking away from the building. "What's happening here?" He actually sounded genuinely afraid this time. However, I wasn't able to give him an answer before the announcement continued.

"I repeat, a violent attack has just occurred on the school-"

Kamigawa was cut off by a loud noise that was echoed by the intercom. For a brief moment there was nothing but silence. All around campus there was silence; even the sports teams were quiet.

_Don't tell me…_

Suddenly, there was more noise in the background of the announcements. Kamigawa could be heard struggling against someone or something.

"G-get away from me!" He exclaimed. "Get back! Raaaaagh! Grrrrr! OW! Grr! You son of a bitch! DIE!" We heard what sounded like a punch, and then more grunting and moaning.

"Grrraaaaaagh! Grrrrr! Waaaaagh! Eh? Huh?" Kamigawa's fight seemed to be turning less into a brawl and more like a massacre. Then we heard the most terrifying noise of all.

"WAAAAAAAAH! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP! I'M GONNA DIE! NO! STOP! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The announcements stopped for good this time. After a while of silence, I thought to myself: _Damn old geezer! He just had to make the situation a hell of a lot worse than before!_

"Jesus Christ!" I heard Oda panicking. "We gotta get the hell outta here!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Screams emitted from all over the school before we knew anything that was happening. Soon we heard millions of pairs of footsteps stampeding inside the buildings. There were screams, punching, the smashing of windows, every chaotic noise you can think of was echoing throughout the campus.

Gritting my teeth in anger, I started running in a different direction than where I had originally intended to head.

"Gojo!" Ryo shouted as both he and Oda sped after me. "Where're you going? What about your girlfriends?"

"Change of plans! The lecture hall is jammed full of people trying to get out! We'll go to the library instead and plan further there!"

Ryo growled lowly. "Fine, let's just go! I hope your women are worth all this shit."

Despite being tempted to whack him hard for his rude comment, I decided to ignore it as we ran to the library, not knowing that our world was already over.

* * *

><p>Running like hell, Oda, Ryoyuki, and myself headed towards the library. We were able to avoid most of the rampaging mob that was trying to escape from whatever killed the announcer. My suggestion that we use the alleyways as a shortcut turned out to be a great idea, as we hadn't run across any obstacles yet.<p>

That was until we saw someone stagger from one of the side passages up ahead. It was a student with blue hair and silver eyes. He was wearing an untucked white long-sleeved shirt that most of the male students wore under their gakuran and also a pair of black pants. I recognized him with one glance.

"Huh? Isn't that Aidamaru?" Ryo asked with confusion. Indeed, the young man staggering in front of us was none other than the fourth guy in our group: Cabaji Aidamaru. Aida was alright, though a tad lecherous even by our standards. In sharp contrast to Ryo, he was a pro at gambling and never lost a bet for as long as I'd known him. But now, something about him seemed awfully wrong. His skin…it was the same shade as Tejima-sensei after he got killed.

I put an arm out to prevent either of my friends from getting too close. "Wait a minute." I said. We waited a second to see what would happen. I soon regretted that decision.

Aidamaru twitched slightly before stepping towards us and opened his mouth.

"Uuuuuuuaaaaaaaagh…" His jaw opened much wider than any normal human would be thought to be capable of doing. At the same time, he made that same blood-chilling moan that still haunts me to this day.

Our friend had become one of _them_.

"RUN!" I shouted, dashing in order to run past the infected student. Ryo and Oda didn't need more encouragement as they loyally followed after me.

Aidamaru had other plans, assuming that _they_ could reason, and turned in my direction. My companions turned around to see me being attacked by our former friend. I flailed with my bokken, trying to fend him off but soon I was backed into a corner. The zombie had me against the wall and was trying to take a chunk out of me!

"Sakaki-" Oda began.

"Gojo!" Ryoyuki dashed at Aidamaru and slammed his bat hard into the zombie's back. The creature growled in pain, but soon he turned to Ryo and lunged at him.

"Aida! What the hell's wrong with you?" He hollered. Aidamaru just kept trying to get at Ryoyuki by swiping his arms at him. Soon he grabbed Ryo's bat and threw him to the side, impacting him against the wall. This made me think of how zombies behaved in the _28 Later_ series. In those movies, the zombies were berserkers that could see, bite, and run. This combined with their incredible strength made them a terrifying foe to go up against. Watching the scenario unfold before me now, it seemed just like a scene from those films, except this time it was _actually_ happening!

Without thinking I ran forward and thrust my bokken into his stomach, and to my surprise, the blade actually pierced his flesh. I would have stopped to ponder how impaling someone with a wooden sword was even psychically possible if the situation had not been as serious. Even after the stabbing, Aidamaru still continued to flail his limbs wildly and moan. Using every bit of my strength, I lifted him off the ground while he was still struggling.

"Why's he still moving? Plus, shouldn't there be blood and guts everywhere?" Ryo asked, obviously riled up.

I gasped in horror, suddenly realizing what was unfolding. "I knew it! He's dead! For some reason he's been killed and has come back as an undead!"

"Wha?"

At this point Oda ran towards the fight and grabbed on to Aidamaru's legs.

"Lower him, Sakakibara! As soon as I grab him, pull your sword out!"

I did what he asked, albeit hesitantly, and pulled my bokken out of the walking corpse. "Get away from him!" I shouted. "Something about him isn't normal!" Saying that was redundant, but true, never the less. Oda just gave a cocky grin as he wrapped his arm around Aidamaru's neck.

"Relax! I can take this guy, no problem!"

Suddenly, Aidamaru began to twist his neck around. A disgusting bone-creaking noise could be heard as he eventually twisted his whole body to face Oda.

"What the fuck?" Oda grabbed onto the zombie's head in an attempt to stop him from getting closer. "Why the fuck is he so POWERFUL?" With that, Aidamaru was able to get close enough and sank his fangs into Oda's arm.

"AAAAAGH!" Oda screamed in pain as he unwrapped the arm he had around the zombie's neck and punched him with all he had. The zombie proved unrelenting as his teeth further pierced his arm.

"GRAAAAAAUGH!"

"Let him go, Aida!" I ran up to them, thrusting my sword once more. Aiming for the heart, I struck there, but Aidamaru still wouldn't let go. My eyes widened; not just at Oda being attacked but the fact that my bokken was able to actually cut things now, like a real sword.

_What the hell is going on? Have I gained some kind of power?_

Soon, I snapped out of it. First thing was first: we had to save Oda and than continue on our way. Looking at where Ryoyuki had gone, I noticed that he was back on his feet, just staring at us in horror.

"What the hell are you just standing there for? Hurry up and bash his skull in!" His eyes widened in shock.

"HURRY AND DO SOMETHING!"

Luckily, he didn't need any more encouragement. He charged at the zombie with his bat in both hands. While making a battle cry, Ryo lifted the bat over his head and slammed it down hard on Aidamaru's skull.

Aidamaru's now headless corpse soon fell to the ground on its back. There was blood all over the ground and the walls of the alleyway. Oda, holding his bitten arm, panted slowly, occasionally swearing under his breath. I walked up to him to see if there was any damage.

"Are you alright?" I asked nervously.

Oda glanced at me like I'd lost my damn mind. "Do I look okay? That damn monster tried to kill me!" He took a few breaths before continuing. "But I'm still alive. He may have torn some of the skin, but otherwise I'm good."

Nodding, I glanced at Ryoyuki to see how he was holding up. The look on his face was bewildered as he took deep breaths, clutching the bat tightly in both hands. "What the hell…" Ryoyuki exclaimed in a hoarse voice. "What the hell was that? This a freakin' zombie apocalypse or somethin'?"

Before I could manage a reply, we heard the smashing of glass coming from somewhere nearby. All of us ran out of the alley to check it out. A girl was lying on the ground near the front entrance. At first, I was hoping that it was either Misuzu or Toshimi. But when we got close enough to make her out I realized that wasn't the case.

The girl had dark colored hair and a normal sized chest, not that I was focusing on it, mind you. Glancing to the window that she had been thrown out of, I could see some zombies wearing student uniforms waltzing inside the locker room. Had they already spread that quickly?

Soon the girl opened her eyes and looked at us. The look on her face showed relief.

"Thank god!" She attempted to get to her feet but failed. "Please help me! My boyfriend and I were trying to get out of the school before-"

She never had time to finish her story before a zombie climbed its way through the shattered window and lunged at us. All three members of my group, including me, immediately fled the scene, leaving the girl behind.

"Wait! Don't leave me! Please come baaaaack! Noooo! Stop, Akio-kun! NOOOO! DON'T BITE ME! DON'T EAT MEEEEEE!"

It was fucked up that we left that girl to die, especially since she was heartbroken over her boyfriend, who was now feasting on her flesh. Yet we couldn't risk sustaining anymore damage like with Aidamaru, so reluctantly, we continued on our way.

Along the way, we spotted more student zombies roaming the campus, the place now looking like something out of _Resident Evil_.

"Like I said before man," Ryoyuki said as we got closer to our goal. "I really hope finding your girls are worth this crap!"

At that point I wondered: _Maybe it would have been better for me not to come to school today._

I just shook my head at this thought as we approached the library.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

And there you have it! What did you think of chapter 1? Please review away! (I really want to hear your thoughts on my work). See you next time for chapter 2!

In case you're wondering, Oda is not an original character created by me. Remember the zombified kid that Imamura saw just before the zombies swarmed in and killed him? That's Oda. This scene was only in the manga version, so anime fans of the series may not be aware of this. Just read through the first chapter again and you'll see it. Uchiyamada and Kamigawa are based on the other two teachers who were with Tejima and Hayashi when they got attacked. The girl who dies at the end of this chapter was the one who Takashi, Hisashi, and Rei saw getting bitten by the zombie who I named and revealed to be her boyfriend, Akio. Aidamaru on the other hand is a purely fan-made character. Have fun waiting!


	3. Chapter 2: Pain of Dead

**Author's Note:**

Here begins chapter 2! Gojo, Imamura, and Oda make it to the library. However, they are forced to fight more of _them_ inside. They see Misuzu and Toshimi, but are unable to save the girls from _them_. In a desperate attempt to save one of the girls, Gojo unlocks yet another power. The gang manages to get to the roof, but once they reach the top they see that the entire city has been laid under siege. On top of that, the life of one of their own, and very possibly their friendship, will be destroyed.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Highschool of the Dead or any of its characters or plot elements. Such properties belong to Daisuke Sato and Shoji Sato as well as Madhouse Studios.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Dead Scars<span>**

**Chapter 2: Pain of Dead**

"_The minute that I turn…please smash my skull in. Let me remain human till the very end!"_

_The final words left by our friend as he coughed up blood and became a shiningen. Due to being bitten by one while on our way to the library, he eventually succumbed to the infection and became one of Them._

_It makes me wonder if I had just smashed Aidamaru's skull when he first appeared before us, maybe he'd still be here. And if that wasn't enough, I was left with a difficult problem due to the actions of one of my girls._

* * *

><p>Gojo Sakakibara, Ryoyuki Imamura, and Junichi Oda, the three of us, dashed to the library. We had hoped to barricade ourselves in the building in order to think up a plan to escape, as well as to find Misuzu, Toshimi, and Oda's girlfriend, Saki Fujishi. It seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, Fujimi's library was a massive building filled with books and files on nearly every subject you could think of; surely there must have been something we could look up on zombies that could possibly aid us in our escape from the school. You see, the library was like something you'd normally find on a college campus. Beautiful glass-stained windows lined the upper levels; there was even a fountain in the center of the ground floor.<p>

Yet, when we reached the front entrance, we immediately saw that the plan had a hitch. Several zombies were limping around the doorways and crawling through the windows of the building. It made me wonder if we were the only three left alive on campus. Shuddering at that thought, I hand-signaled to my friends to wait while I cleared the front. I ran towards the undead hoard and swung my bokken, knocking several of them down with jabs to the stomach.

As I kept bringing more of _them_ down, I noticed that the bokken occasionally cut completely through the rotten hides of the undead. Though the situation really didn't allow me to put much thought into exactly _how_ something, let it be a sword, made from _wood_, was capable of cutting through _anything_, let alone flesh and bone.

They kept coming at me ruthlessly. One to the right, another swiped at my head, and yet another got on all fours and lumbered its way towards me. Ducking the one who tried to hit me, I brought my sword down on the zombie walking on all fours, splattering his brain. As for the zombie on the right, he ended up stumbling into Ryoyuki's path and was promptly finished off with a bat to the head. Finally, the last one had his artery pierced by yours truly. Oda was still recovering from his scuffle with Aidamaru, so I told him prior to stay out of any fights for now, until he healed.

God, was I ignorant; regarding Oda's condition, I mean.

"Jesus Christ!" Ryo panted. "What the fuck is going on! How'd whatever you guys said happened at the gate get in here so quickly? It should've at least taken an hour or two at most! And yet- Wait, Gojo, aren't these guys supposed to be-"

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD!" I exploded, banging my bokken against the pillar near the door. I breathed for a bit before continuing.

"Do you think that I _enjoyed_ killing these…things? Well you're wrong! These things were human once! They were…ugh."

I felt the tears coming on before continuing. "The-they were…oh god, I knew these guys! Teshiwara, Muto, Chiba!" Sobbing at this point, I didn't care about keeping my image anymore in front of the guys.

The three guys I mentioned were the only male members besides me in the kendo club. Pretty much all other members besides us were female due to their undying loyalty to Busujima-taicho, which kind of weirded me out. I wasn't about to complain, though. Our kendo club was the nation's best; our captain having taken the nationals last year. I lost my match due to the scum that I ended up facing kept poking at my injuries from previous battles until he gave me a ring-out. Following the celebration and congrats party that Toshimi held for me, I thought that the worse fear I held was suffering humiliation in front of all my friends.

Yet what was unfolding right in front of me replaced that fear and bumped it down to second place on my list of fears. Later humiliation would be demoted to third, and having to kill people you knew in life as zombies would change to number two. As for number one…

That's not important now. I'll tell you more about that in the future.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I tapped the ground with the bokken. "I'm sorry, you two. Oh god, what is happening to me? Shit! Shit!"

"Uh, Sakakibara?" Oda asked nervously. "Shouldn't we-you know-go inside, AND FIND OUR FRIGGIN' GIRLFRIENDS SO WE CAN HAUL ASS OUTTA HERE!" His voice turned into a scream as he shook me out of my flunk.

Hand palming, I said: "Yeah."

I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open. When I poked my head in, I soon wished that I'd waited a little longer before looking. In terms of decorum, the walls were covered in blood and bodies were everywhere. Some were only missing pieces of meat from their arms and legs. Those ones looked like they were only asleep and could wake up any minute if one overlooked their deathly grey skin and missing body parts. Others like a body hanging from the ceiling were a hell of a lot worse. Their faces were ripped off or their chests had been torn up, exposing their bones. It took every ounce of willpower not to barf. Not only would that weaken me, but I wouldn't be able to hear any of _them_ sneaking up on me.

Still, it was strange. Despite the zombies that we found prowling outside the building, and walking corpses coming out of the windows where I suspected there'd be more, these inside corpses were not even twitching. Even when I tapped one with my sword it didn't react. No to mention the fact that most of the tables and bookshelves were still standing upright, plus the books, aside from the messes of paper on the tables where people were reading, were all still neatly organized on the shelves. To top it all off, it was deathly quiet. No moaning, growling, or shuffling of feet.

"Hello?" I called out. There was no answer. Since I'd seen my fair share of horror flicks, I knew that in most places that seemed deserted were usually packed full of beasts waiting to dine on human flesh. I tried again, this time significantly louder. "HELLO!" Once again, no reaction.

At that point I was starting to wonder if _they_ had anything to do with the deaths of all the students lying around here. None of them were making any movements or showing any signs of coming back from the dead. After taking another quick look around, I decided that things were alright.

"You guys can come in now! Don't worry, none of the bodies in here look like there're gonna come back anytime soon!"

Ryo pushed open the door slowly and walked in, Oda followed him soon after, still clutching his injured arm.

"Whoa!" Oda exclaimed. "It's like a bloody massacre in here!"

Ryo moved towards me quickly, carefully stepping over any corpses in his path. "What now, man? Do we plan our escape first, or go look for your girlfriends?"

"Neither."

"Huh?"

"First we should barricade all doors and windows except the walkways leading to the other buildings. It's the safest way we have to get from here to the main building and back."

"Are you kidding?" He said in disbelief. "You've seen how powerful those monsters are! They'd probably just burst the wall like glass and we'd all get killed for sure! Besides, there's no guarantee that those kids are even still-"

Ryo was interrupted by my fist which collided with his face. He quickly recovered and glared at me, like I'd just killed his family.

"You said that you had plan, Gojo!" He growled. "Well what're you gonna do if it fails and we all die?"

Sighing heavily, I gave him an icy look and spoke in a voice just as cold.

"Then I guess you won't be around to complain about the bad advice that I gave you."

"Tch!" Ryo just looked away in annoyance, lifting his bat over his shoulders. "Fine, whatever you say, Gojo-shisho! So how're we gonna block all the doors? This place is huge, and there's no telling if any of these things lying around here won't flicker back to life as zombies."

My eyebrow twitched. I hadn't considered that. Maybe it just took time to for the change to completely occur and none of these bodies had fully transitioned into that yet. After all, it seemed really unlikely to expect that these students were gnawed on and just left here to rot on their own. If we were completely sealed off with this many undead, than we were in for a hell of a time.

We heard Oda's voice call out to us. Apparently he had found something in the eastern area of the library. "What did you find?"

"Alive! One of these guys is still alive! Get over here quick before he bleeds to death!"

My eyes narrowed as the two of us speed walked over to the bandana-wearing boy. He was cradling a student that was bleeding heavily and had his entire left portion of his stomach removed. The teeth marks left little question as to who did this to him.

"C'mon, stay with me!" Oda panicked as the student's condition only seemed to worsen. "You're gonna pull through this! C'mon!"

"Let me see him." I told my friend as I knelt down towards the injured student. Laying him down on the floor, I spoke with him. "I'm Gojo Sakakibara, kendo club's former vice-captain. What is your name?" The reason I said _former_ was because somehow I doubted that any day after today would be normal and school would no longer exist after this.

"K-Koshaku-" He coughed up a bit of blood before answering. "Saotome…"

Glancing down at the dying, now named, Saotome, I asked: "What happened in here? Did you and all these other guys attempt to defend the library?"

"Y-yeah!" Saotome replied. "After the announcement, me and all my friends came in here. Th-though nothing happened for about ten min-minutes…th-this voice suddenly echoed throughout the library. A-and that's when-when-"

"What happened?" I asked, trying to keep my cool. Maybe this "voice" he mentioned had something to do with the stranger who caused this insanity at the front entrance. "Do you have a clue about how this all happened?"

Unfortunately, the boy was no longer talking, now instead panting for breath as blood trolled out of his mouth. Ryoyuki turned away slightly, making a disgusted face. "Gojo, don't force him! We need to get to the faculty building, find Marikawa-sensei, and treat this guy!"

I shook my head. "There's nothing in that nurse's office that could possibly help this kid in the shape he's in. He's in no condition to move, and we don't even know if we could make it to the nurse without being attacked."

Oda looked at us with an expression of fear. "What then? This guy's probably only got a few minutes left at most, and that's if he's lucky!"

With those words, Saotome began clutching the hole in his body, screaming in pain. His pupils dilated and he kept yelling. "G-get out of here! Gggh! If you…augh…stay here anymore than-yoaaaaaAAAAAAAUGH!" His screaming only got louder as a powerful sonic wave made its way throughout the library. But as soon as it had started, the sonic screaming died down. All in the building was quiet once again.

The three of us looked to see the apparent damage done by the wave. To our shock, nothing. That's right; none of the windows were shattered, the bookshelves were still standing with all their contents secure, and the fountain still continued to spew water from its head. What the hell had just happened?

"Hey, buddy! You alright? C'mon, wake up! There's more stuff you gotta tell us!"

I looked at Oda and noticed that he was once again holding the student. He was no longer twitching, let alone moving. After a while Oda just lowered him on the ground and got back up. Before Ryo could say something to him, he shook his head. There was no doubt…

Koshaku Saotome had just died.

Gritting my teeth, I punched a bookshelf and kicked down a table. I was fucking pissed off; after barely getting over the injured girl we abandoned earlier, this shit had to happen, only this time we did not run and instead wasted time arguing while the boy suffered and died right in front of us. What really burned me was the fact that we lost a clue to just how the fuck our school ended up like this. If nothing else angered me, it was that a person died right in front of me, and I was powerless to stop it. Screaming my lungs out, I continued to slice up the library when Ryo grabbed me from behind and slammed me into the side of one of the bookcases.

"Quit getting so pissed! He would've died anyway even if we hadn't found him! We ain't heroes or any of that shit! The only hides we should be covering are our own. Hell, in all honesty, I think its suicide to look for Ichijo! You should know that she and her friend probably got stomped to death when that announcement was made. It's hopeless!"

"If you want to die so badly Ryo, than say it!"

"What'd you say?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Uuuugh…ohhhhh….auuuugh…."

Oda stopped in his tracks just as he was about to break us up. That bone-chilling moaning had come from one of the bodies, which was now moving slightly on the ground. I turned my head to the ceiling and saw that the body hanging up there was now wildly swinging its limbs as it tried to get its neck loose.

"Oh, fuck." I said quietly.

Now all the bodies in the library were groaning and starting to get up. This excluded the corpses that had _their_ legs gnawed off, who began to use _their_ arms to drag _themselves_ across the carpet.

"What the hell?" Ryo said a little too loudly. "Why are they moving now? A few minutes earlier and these things were all but part of the scenery!"

Oda jumped back before the zombie next to him could grab his leg. He put up his fists which were still had his knuckles. I put my arm out, signaling for him to stop.

"Don't do it. Your injury is still bleeding isn't it?" The other boy glanced at his arm which was wrapped in a bandage. Surely enough, the white color of the bandage had turned dark red. His face tensed in frustration.

"Shit, why won't the blood stop flowing out? More importantly, why'd these zombies take so long to reanimate?"

Ryo grunted a little, holding his bat in front of him. "Who knows? Maybe it just takes a while for the effects to kick in!"

"That can't be…" I argued back. "When we saw Tejima and Hayashi-sensei get bitten, it only took them under a minute each to change."

"Huh?"

I gasped. I had just revealed that one of Ryoyuki's "older women" list had died right to his face. Ryo gave me a startled look that soon turned into an angry, though still mostly baffled look.

"What'd you say?"

"N-nothing, I-"

"Hayashi-sensei…is dead?"

"Ryo, this really isn't the time-"

He was on top of me before I could finish, punching me repeatedly. "Take it back, you dick! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!" There wasn't even a chance to speak as he kept pummeling me in the face. Even worse, a good number of the undead were shuffling their way towards the fight. Oda soon ran over and hauled Ryo off of me, his face far from happy. "What's wrong with you guys? Do you NOT see what's happening?"

"Let go, Oda! He just trash-talked my club advisor! The fuckwad's gonna-"

"She's dead, Imamura."

He stopped shouting and looked up at his friend. For a while he just blankly stared at Oda.

"I saw it, too. Tejima became one of _them_, grabbed Hayashi by her neck, and killed her."

"Y-you're a liar! There's n-no way that Haya-" Ryo couldn't finish as he slumped down on the ground, making strange noises. It wasn't crying, I'm not sure what it was, but it sure sounded sad.

I got up to reach for my bokken until I saw a zombie standing right in front of me. Its mouth was gaping wide and blood was pouring out as it roared. Before I could do anything the creature placed its lifeless hands on my shoulders and once again shoved me to the ground. My heart beet went up by the billions as the corpse kept trying to take a bite out of my head or neck.

As I dodged, the undead bit into the floor and began chewing the carpet instead of my meat. Seeing my chance, I move my leg back as far as it could go and gave a sharp kick to the stomach. It fell past Oda who was rushing over to help. He turned to see the zombie struggling to get back up. He soon got a book off the shelf and slammed it onto the beast's head. After a few bashes it stopped moving.

Using my bokken I ran down the section of the library, whacking the heads of any zombies that came my way. Though the event of Ryo beating the shit out of me was still fresh, to me it felt like it had occurred a thousand years ago. Yet it had only occurred mere minutes after I accidently let it slip that Hayashi-sensei had been killed. Guess arguments, regardless of the topic, do not hold up well in a zombie invasion.

Soon I arrived in the main lobby after beating down several zombies. However, I was beginning to tire with every swing, and there were still so many of _them_ left. Taking a moment to gain my surroundings, I saw a rug with a sundial engraved on it. Then I glanced at the windows and saw sunlight pour into them, the rays shining on the bookcases. A bunch of savages had gathered by one side of the shelf. At that moment, I had an idea.

Wasting no time, I dashed over to the side that was zombie-free and put all my strength into pushing the case. It finally fell over and made a loud crash, squishing any undead that happened to be close by. One of them still had the upper half of his body still stuck under the bookshelf. As is roared in anger, I lifted my sword and brought it down on its head. The skull split clean open and all movement ceased.

I sighed and decided to pray for a bit. After all, most of the other zombies were on the other side of the building at the reference area and I was a good distance away from there. Placing my bokken on the ground I prayed for the forgiveness of those whose lives were cut short. It wasn't like they wanted to get killed and in turn become man eaters. While I was doing this, I could hear smashing back where I left the others. No doubt that Ryoyuki and Oda were beating down any more of those monsters that had just sprung to life.

That brought me back to the bodies. Why weren't any of them moving when we entered the library earlier? And what was that voice that Saotome fellow had brought up? Not to mention…

I froze.

_Hold on. When we found Saotome, he looked like that he had barely survived an encounter with a group of Them. But after that sound wave, he just died and all these corpses just got back up. Could maybe…_

Everything made sense. I briskly made my way back to the area I'd left my friends at. Surely enough, Saotome's body had not moved from the place he had died. Nervously, I poked his body to make sure that he wasn't going to resurrect. A while passed and nothing happened. I was right. That sound wave was the cause for all the bodies to start moving again. Whoever that voice belonged to did something to Saotome and made his body a trigger for the zombies to wake up in case anyone had gotten this far.

_Thank god…_ I thought. _If we had blocked the doorways when these guys had awoken…_

Let's just say…we would have been fucked.

I decided to think more on how the scuffle at the gate had turned out. Surely that man who killed Tejima-sensei had to have been a zombie already in order to spread the infection to him. So in that case…

_That man at the gate wasn't entirely responsible for this calamity, than is it possible that someone or something else could have done this? Is it possible that this is happening elsewhere? I mean, there was that phone call I made, and they said that a high volume of 110 calls were being made…_

Scowling, my head turned towards the windows and saw that the sun had sunk lower in the sky. To think, not even a whole day passes and my whole life goes to hell. First a vandal, who turns out to be a zombie, kills Tejima-sensei, and spreads the infection. Then Kamigawa unintentionally causes a panic and causes many students to be either trampled or chewed to death by the zombies. Finally, we were forced to kill Aidamaru, who had become a zombie himself, we left a girl to die at the hands of her undead boyfriend, and Saotome had perished right in front of us while we didn't do anything to help. To say that I was stressed out by the whole ordeal was an understatement.

Now I had to snap out of it. Negative thinking wouldn't help me or the guys escape nor would it help find my girls. First things first, I had to get back with the other boys and get to the roof. There was no way we'd be able to kill all of _them_ inside of this library, and even if we could, more could still pour in from outside. The roof had a smaller holding on top which the student council used as their meeting room. If we could only get up there and barricade the entrance to it somehow, then…

I paused when I saw a good number of zombies gathering on the far right of the library where the guys were smashing their heads. Ryoyuki was swinging his bat, seemingly having recovered from his breakdown, though he was now like a beast as he plowed through corpse after walking corpse, wearing a now furious expression. Soon a zombie had bitten the bat, but Ryo threw it overhead and slammed it down on an approaching undead in front of him.

As for Oda, he was using what looked like a pipe or crowbar to carve up the creature's masses. I don't know; maybe he found it in a corner somewhere and decided to use it. His arm was still bleeding, which was not a good sign. I really began to worry, if Oda ended up losing too much blood, who knew when we'd be able to treat him. The thought of having to go through yet another experience like with Akio's girlfriend and Saotome was really sickening.

Just then, I heard footsteps.

I glanced up at the walkways, and I could barely make out two people running side by side down through the passages. As they got closer I was able to make them out.

They belonged to a pair of students, both girls, running on the upper levels, possibly having come from either the cafeteria or the lecture hall.

The girl in the front had blackish brown hair which was done in a bun and wrapped in cloth; parted in the center which exposed most if not her entire forehead. Two long bangs ran down both sides of her head and her eyes were colored brown. Her chest left a lot to be desired, in other words, a total flat chest. The second girl behind her, however, was much better endowed. Her breasts were enormous, nowhere near Takagi or Doc Marikawa's, but still impressive nonetheless. She had blue eyes and dark blue hair tied in a pigtail, the front of her hair being combed somewhat; along with some small bangs near her ears.

"We'll be alright if we stick together, Misuzu!" The pigtailed girl said.

Her friend, who was holding her hand somewhat loosely, smiled nervously and nodded. "Mm-hm!" She replied. "After all, you and I will be friends forever, Toshimi!"

There was doubt. The loves of my life, Misuzu Ichijo and Toshimi Niki; I had finally found them.

* * *

><p><em>(A short while prior to the assault on Fujimi)<em>

In classroom 2-C, Toshimi Niki continued to listen to their teacher's lecture, while twisting a pencil in her hand. She wore a cute smile while writing in her notebook, keeping her ears open to Kumi-sensei's lesson. There wasn't anything that seemed to bother her. Her classmates all adored her and she was quite popular, often receiving invitations from lechers to go out with them.

Unfortunately (for them) all Toshimi wanted to do outside of school hours was to spend time with her best friend, Misuzu Ichijo. The two were an inseparable duo, except when one of them was out sick or on a family vacation, during which the other one would fall into a depression. Like twin sisters, they did everything together; school related projects, homework, shopping trips, showers, they even slept at each other's homes on and off. Takagi, of course, was completely disturbed by their deep friendship, saying that such obsessions could turn them into lesbians, which they both denied.

Speaking of which, Toshimi spotted Misuzu lying at her desk, sleeping through class. She gulped. The last time Kumi saw her sleeping she made her carry _three_ buckets of water and stand in the hall! Misuzu was not able to move her arms well for a full week afterwards. There were good reasons for why the teacher had done this, however.

At the start of our freshman year, Misuzu had scored pretty high and was hoping to be our representative. I was the one who ended up scoring the most, however, and ended up representing the freshman class, much to Takagi's chagrin, if I might add. Misuzu was also angry, wanting to win back her "honor" and prove to everyone about how "wonderful" she was. Her studies eventually paid off and she scored the highest on the midterms, "making her debut" as she said. A lot of other stuff happened after that that isn't worth mentioning, but following that we all became friends. Naturally the rumors about us spread, mostly on Morita's part, and since Misuzu and I were on the honor role, the disciplinary committee kept a watchful eye on us until summer break. I also fulfilled my promise to Morita that I would kick his ass for the pervy rumors that he spread.

Anyways, Toshimi shuddered when Kumi-sensei eyed Misuzu and began walking towards her, carrying a ruler. Thinking fast, though it wasn't the friendliest way of awakening someone, Toshimi quickly made a paper airplane from a sheet in her notebook. Aiming with procession, she tossed it over to her friend's desk.

The plane landed successfully and ended up pricking Misuzu's finger. Thankfully, there was no paper cut. It brought Misuzu out of her slumber; the girl opened her brown eyes and lifted her arms, yawning as she did so.

"O-ohayo, minei!" She murmured as she wiped the drool off her mouth. Her eyes widened in alarm when she looked around the classroom. "Don't tell that I…" She began before she saw Kumi-sensei's shadow loom over her. When Misuzu made eye contact with the teacher, she paled.

"Well, I can see you woke up just in time, Ichijo-san!" The voice was calm, but clearly showed annoyance. Her finger pointed to the door. "Hallway, now."

Misuzu sighed and walked outside, stopping near one of the classroom windows. "Jeez! At least she's not making me hold anything! Shit!" She ran her fingers down one of her bangs while she murmured this.

Out of the duo, Misuzu was the tomboyish and more outgoing, frequently making suggestive advances towards me, though nothing like Miku Yuki's perverseness. This kind of personality wasn't at all shocking, coming from a girl raised in a middle-class family. Her family at times was a bit…overprotective, but still had decent character nonetheless. In addition, despite getting high marks in school, Misuzu's attitude really turned off any potential dates and not many girls besides Toshimi hung out with her. Thinking about this, she gritted her teeth.

_Why can't I ever find a guy who'll go out with me? Toshimi always gets asked out! What's wrong with me?_

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard the announcements come on. "Uh, attention everyone…" She didn't recognize the voice, but whoever he was; he wasn't the usual announcer, not to mention he sounded pretty spooked.

"A violent assault has just taken place on the school grounds! Please, all students stay with your teachers and evacuate immediately!"

The girl's eyes widened. What was this announcer saying?

_What's going on? _She thought somewhat confused._ Is there something happening on outside? A terrorist attack? No, that's stupid! What the hell's going on?_

She hauled ass to the windows to see whatever the announcer was talking about could be seen. There was nothing unusual in sight. That being the case, why was whoever was making the announcements sounding so panicked?

"I repeat, a violent attack has just-" He was suddenly cut off by a loud steel groaning noise in the background. The intercom just echoed for a while. Silence could be heard everywhere around the school. Misuzu narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the speaker.

That's when all hell broke loose.

"G-get away from me! Get back!" Shouted the announcer as he fought something in the background; grunts could be heard, followed by some shouts and what Misuzu thought was a punch.

"WAAAAAAAH! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP! I'M GONNA DIE! STOOOOP! WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" There were no more voices coming from the intercom after all that screaming. Misuzu just stood there, frozen, not saying a word. A bit of sweat trailed down her cheek. She was breathing heavily, like she expected something to happen next.

"Jesus Christ!" She murmured in alarm. Looking out the window, see gave the courtyards a quick look around. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement near the front door of the school. A teacher staggered through the pillars holding up the entrance. Misuzu recognized him as Tejima-sensei, one of the P.E. teachers. Something about him seemed…disturbing. She suddenly paled when she saw his arm. There was a large portion of flesh missing from it. His skin was pale grey and he had a monstrous-looking face.

"My God!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Screams suddenly echoed throughout the campus. Misuzu turned around and saw Kumi-sensei try to get out of the classroom. A boatload of students pushed her forward, trying to get out. Kumi smashed against the wall opposite of the classroom and fell backwards. The students didn't bother to watch where their feet were stepping on. Students and teachers from all classes on the second floor poured out, screaming their lungs out as they tried to escape from whatever killed the guy on the intercom. Soon all the people were out of sight, the only trace of them being the sound of stampeding footsteps heard on the lower levels as well as the stairwell.

The girl just gaped at what she had just witnessed. In front of her lay the body of Kumi-sensei. Blood was surrounding her body as it flowed out; her eyes were still open as it did so. Bloody footprints were all over the hallways. Misuzu just gazed at the sight. Tears flowed from her eyes while she stared in horror at the calamity she just witnessed.

"What am I gonna do?" She said aloud to herself, wiping the tears away.

Just then, Misuzu heard some whimpering in class 2-C; someone was still inside; it was a girl's voice. Undoubtedly, the individual had been too scared by the announcement's sudden interruption to make a quick getaway. Misuzu cautiously tiptoed to the classroom door and peaked inside to see who it was.

Toshimi sat at her desk trembling in fear. She was shedding tears and whimpering while giving herself a hug. The poor girl was practically petrified, unable to move. Misuzu stared at her for a good while. She had her eyes fixated on her best friend. Her eyes narrowed and she smiled.

_Might as well._ She thought this with amusement.

With that Misuzu opened the door, which made her friend jolt. Her terrified look subsided somewhat when she saw her friend standing in the doorway.

"Mi-Misuzu…"

"Hey." She responded, waving her hand. With a serious look, she added: "You heard that announcement, right?" Toshimi slowly nodded. Misuzu smiled confidently and walked over to the desk. She reached out her hand, grabbed Toshimi's hand and placed it in her other.

"C'mon, let's go!" She said with a warm smile.

Toshimi's pupils dilated slightly before returning to normal. She bore a hopeful smile and nodded at her friend.

"Right!"

Holding hands, with Misuzu in the lead, the girls ran out of the classroom, determined to escape the school. As they crossed the walkways to the library, both of them glanced down at the savagery that took place below. The girls gulped slightly at the carnage. People seemed to be _eating_ others down there in the courtyards. Misuzu paled at the carnage. Then she noticed a bit of blood around the glass windows as they continued on their way. Soon they were inside of the library, running down the staircases to safety.

As they ran, holding their hands loosely, they could've sworn that they heard the sounds of fighting going down on the ground floor. Of course, they at the time had no idea it was me and the guys fighting zombies. A few chilling moans followed by a loud noise of something, maybe a bookshelf, slamming against the ground made a few things on the upper levels shake violently. There was also the sound of something blurting out, like ooze, though if Misuzu could guess; it was either blood or entrails.

Noticing Misuzu's worried look, Toshimi decided to encourage her. "We'll be alright if we stick together, Misuzu!" She said hopefully.

The brown-haired girl glanced at her friend and smiled nervously as they passed a bookcase and then a window. "Mm-hm! After all, you and I will be friends forever, Toshimi!"

Secretly though, Misuzu had doubts. With supposedly zombies roaming the campus, and with no weapons to defend themselves, she wasn't sure if they were going to make it at all.

"Ugh! Huh?"

Toshimi stopped when she felt a cold hand grasp her ankle. Misuzu turned to look at why she stopped. Her eyes widened and her mouth suddenly went agape. A zombie had been dragging itself up the stairs and had gotten its hands on Toshimi. Before either of them could react, the zombie yanked Toshimi downwards and grabbed on to her, though miraculously she was still holding Misuzu's hand.

"AAAAAAH!" She screamed when the undead sunk its fangs into her neck. Now she was blabbering incomprehensible things in sheer fright as the zombies started to eat her. Finally she screamed something we could understand.

"NOOOO! STOP! HELP ME! HELP ME, MISUZU!"

Misuzu, still holding on tightly, showed a look of both revulsion and fear while her friend begged for her to save her. Just then, her eyes became hidden behind her bangs.

_Could this be…?_

Very quickly that anyone who wasn't observant could have missed it; a small grin appeared on her face.

_YES! THIS IS IT!_

* * *

><p><em>(Back to the present)<em>

"TOSHIMI!"

I screamed as soon as I saw her get grabbed by the undead. Quickly, I sprinted to the stairs that she was being dragged down, cutting down everyone and everything that was in my path.

"MOVE!" I was practically bellowing; summoning the whole hoard on me. _They_ kept lunging at me, either growling or moaning, though I didn't care. All that mattered was saving Toshimi from these things that were once human but now were nothing but walking corpses.

"I HAVE NO TIME TO PURIFY YOUR SOULS!" I slammed yet another down on the rug.

As I got to the base of the stairwell, I felt a pair of hands grab me. _Fuck!_ I thought. Wasting no time I grabbed the mass and flipped it.

"OW! What the hell, man!" It was Ryoyuki that had grabbed me. I gritted my teeth, realizing that I had wasted time. Before I could go, Ryo got a hold of me once more.

"She's fucked, Gojo! Going up there now is only gonna-" I angrily slugged him in the face and kept running, not even bothering to check to see if one of _them_ had bitten him because of my punch. For some reason, when I decided to look down, I couldn't see Oda fighting with his crowbar. Could it be that one of _them_ had…?

_God dammit!_ I screamed in my head.

"NOOOO! STOP! HELP ME! HELP ME, MISUZU!" Toshimi was completely panicking while I ran up the stairs.

"Toshi-chan!" I hollered. Misuzu was completely paralyzed with fear, though she still held on to her friend. Though understandable given the psychological trauma of the situation, Misuzu didn't appear to take my presence into consideration as she still held on.

At that moment, I thought that I saw a small grin appear on Misuzu's face, though it quickly vanished. For whatever reason she smirked, I had no idea at the time. But I had seen it. That was a smile no matter how you looked at it.

"Let go! Let go…of me!"

_Huh?_

I heard Toshimi gasp at her friend's demand.

The look on Misuzu's face was one of pure rage and disgust. She lifted her right leg up.

"LET ME GO, YOU STUPID BITCH!" She shouted. With those very words, she brought her foot down hard on Toshimi's face causing her to lose her grip.

Toshimi screamed as she tumbled down the stairs, down into the clutches of them. The screaming quickly turned into crying as the undead swarmed around and started eating her. Her shirt and skirt had lifted up, exposing her belly and yellow panties.

"Uuuuugh…AAAAAAAUGH!"

"NOOOOOO!"

I kept running forwards to the massacre, too fixated on saving Toshimi to worry much about Misuzu's blatant betrayal. As soon as I reached the zombies I screamed out for all to hear.

"Now my wood shall…PURIFY YOU!"

In rapid succession, I repeatedly broke each of their skulls and soon they had all fallen over the banister. I would have been shocked at my sheer speed if not for the anger I felt at the situation. Not brag, I mean, I was an expert at kendo, but not _that_ skilled.

My knees buckled as I dropped on them, panting for breath. I had completely exerted myself in that fit of rage. What was needed for me at that point was a chance to take a breather; to calm myself down from everything that had happened. But then I realized that there was no time for that.

"Toshimi!" I ran over and saw the damage.

She was a complete mess. Her entire upper body had been gnawed raw and blood was everywhere. One of her ears and a good portion of her hair were gone and her eyeballs were ripped out of their sockets. At that point, I leaned over the other side of the railing. I started barfing immediately. After a while, I grew some balls and ran over to Toshimi's corpse.

"No, Toshimi!" I was crying out loud, not caring if a zombie had grabbed me at that point. "Don't die! You're not going that easily!" Still crying, I attempted CPR, even though I knew it was pointless. My voice began breaking up and I knelt over her body.

"I'm sorry, Toshi-chan! I'm sorry!" Part of me was fucking pissed at Misuzu for kicking her friend away. Yet at the same time, I was too devastated over Toshimi's death to bring myself to scream at her.

My tears fell on my hands. I _really_ was useless. We couldn't save that girl at the gate, we saw Saotome die right in front of us, and even worse; one of my girls was betrayed by the other and got chewed to death. I couldn't do anything and for that I was completely destroyed.

Water continued to flow from my eyes. As it did, I didn't notice that the liquid was beginning to illuminate. When I finally saw this, I stopped screaming and gapped. "My tears…glow?" I must've really been losing it at that point. First my bokken can slice through things, then my speed increases, and now my tears are glowing?

"What-the fuck-IS HAPPENING TO MEEEEEE?" I shouted and suddenly a bright light appeared and lit the bloody library for all to see. Ryo, who was still bashing the skulls of the zombies, turned to the top of the staircase and saw the light around me.

"Holy shit!" He gasped.

The glowing tears stopped glowing and turned transparent. To my astonishment, they rose up into the air and started bunching together. Saying nothing, I just kept staring at the liquid as it turned into an oval shape. The liquid then dropped down and fell into my hands, the water still rippling as it maintained form.

I just stared in awe. What was I going to do with this? When I screamed for Toshimi's forgiveness, my tears had suddenly reacted and answered to my despair.

_Could I…is it possible that with this…Toshimi can be saved?_

Deciding to take a gamble, I carefully laid the water form over Toshimi's marred form. The water quickly sank into the girl's body. For a while, nothing happened and I didn't take my eyes off of her. Then all of a sudden, it happened.

"Augh! Ryo, Misuzu! Cover your eyes!" I shouted a warning to my friends. If they heard me, they gave no sign as a light even brighter then the sun itself illuminated the dark confines of the library. The light completely concealed Toshi-chan's body as the light then rose into the air. All the moaning and growling that the zombies were emitting suddenly ceased as they appeared to stop in their tracks. For whatever reason, I had no idea. I was too flabbergasted by the strange power I had just unleashed.

Eventually, the light dimmed until it had vanished entirely. When my eyes opened, I kind of just stared into space. My pupils were dilated, still trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed. When I saw Toshimi's body, I gasped. Her body had been completely healed as if she had never been bitten.

"Toshimi!" I lifted and shook her a little, trying to get a reaction. "Hey, Toshimi! Wake up, open your eyes! Toshimi!"

The girl's eyes moved a little. Slowly her eyes opened, looking a tad drowsy. "Wh-what the-?" She murmured, before gasping when she saw me holding her. "Gojo-kun!" She murmured. Tears started flowing from her eyes, possibly from Misuzu betraying her or out fear of the zombie apocalypse. As she started sobbing I pulled her into a hug, moving my arm up and down her back in comfort.

"Shh! It's okay, cause I, will be there…for you." I said after a short pause in speech.

"Eeek!"

A small scream came from atop the stairs. We glanced up and saw that Misuzu had been grabbed by three of _them_ and was about to get eaten.

"NO, MISUZU!" Toshimi cried.

The look on Misuzu's face was one of pure terror. The zombie standing directly behind her had his cold bloody hands clamped on her face, and his friends on the sides were about to get second and third dibs respectively. There was no time to hesitate; I dashed up the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. I soon realized that I wasn't going to make it; the creatures were already too close.

Questions raced through my mind. Misuzu and Toshimi were the best of best friends, like sisters, thick and thin. Even an apocalypse shouldn't have been enough to break their bond, and yet it had. Also, why did Toshimi shout out to her friend if she had already had been betrayed by her? If I had been in her position, I would've cursed the flat-chest from my grave for the rest of eternity.

As I got to the top, the zombie in the center was hit in the skull by a heavy book, causing to him to lose his grip. Misuzu fell forwards but I caught her before she could hit.

"You motherfuckas gotta lot of nerve, breaking a girl's bond like that!" Oda ran towards the other two zombies and carved them up with his crowbar. To finish it up, he grabbed the limp bodies and threw them over the railing. A couple of loud splats could be heard down below.

In my arms, Misuzu was panting, no doubt still out of breath from the experience she had gone through.

"Misuzu!" She looked at me when I said her name.

"Who-have we met?"

Her memory was starting to get hazy. So I shook her to snap her out of it.

"Wake up!" I shouted, smacking her in the face. "I am Gojo Sakakibara, your friend! Don't let even a zombie invasion wipe that from your mind!"

Her shocked look turned into one of sadness and concern. "Gojo-kun…" With that she wrapped her arms around me and cried into my shoulder. "I thought for sure that you'd been killed by one of…THOSE!" She shouted out the last word and quickly backed away with a look of fear. I whirled around and came face to face with one of _them_. Before it could attack, the same book from earlier fell and hit it on the head, causing it to tumble back down. Ryo came up a separate staircase and ran over to us.

"Guys, those things are coming upstairs! We can't stay here anymore!"

"Well, we can't go back through the front!" Oda retorted. He turned to me and shouted. "We still have to find Saki-chan!" I had completely forgotten about why Oda was with me. Like me, he wanted to find his girlfriend and get the hell out of here, yet I forgot about it because I was so fixated on locating my girls.

Speaking of which, how the fuck was I able to revive Toshimi like that? The only thing that I knew was that I was feeling desperate. Desperate to get off the campus, anxious to find the girls, absolutely frantic on saving Toshimi, and determination to make sure that Misuzu didn't get bitten. I decided not to inquire on why Misuzu just abruptly kicked her best friend in order to save herself. There would be time for that later, after we escaped the school.

I saw Imamura and Oda arguing about what to do while Toshimi just trembled and Misuzu leaned over the railing, trying to catch her breath. Deciding to break them up, I walked over and banged their heads together. "Guys, calm down! Ryo is right; we can no longer stay here!"

"Where can we go?" Toshimi asked.

I gave it some thought. Suddenly I remembered. "The roof!" Everyone just stared at me. "Let's get up to the roof! We'll barricade ourselves in the council room until help arrives!" Gesturing with my bokken, I pointed to the door leading to the roof access.

"Let's go!"

With that, I grabbed Toshimi's hand and we were off. Misuzu followed closely behind, and she was followed by Ryoyuki and than Oda, back to clutching his injured arm.

* * *

><p>All five of us burst out onto the roof, running like hell to make sure that we didn't get eaten by <em>them<em>. Misuzu had taken the lead, dashing up the stairs while I pursued after her. Toshimi, Oda, and Ryo were following close behind. Luckily, there were no zombies up here, so running up the stairs to the roof proved not to be a problem.

When we got to the outside, however, we soon wished that we hadn't.

Down below, the zombies were still preying on anyone unfortunate to get in their path. Chaos was everywhere: a boy and girl student, possibly a couple, had been completely enclosed by _them_ on both sides, soon after they were both overtaken and devoured. Another girl watched as her friend was grabbed and devoured by a zombified male student, screaming as she fell to the ground. In a different area of the courtyard, I saw Tejima-sensei, the first person of Fujimi Academy to be infected, bite into a crying girl's neck, veins violently forming on his head.

"Shit!" Ryo exclaimed as he stopped to look at the carnage. "What the hell _is_ this?" He turned away and continued to run with us.

* * *

><p>Near the lecture hall, the judo club leader, Maro Takayama, was using his judo to subdue the incoming hoard that was gathering around him. It was just another ordinary day when this all happened. He had woken up with his infant son in bed, ate some toast, kissed his wife goodbye, and jogged to Fujimi. Some new club members had signed up and Takayama was supposed to "chew 'em out" today. Yet the day suddenly erupted into chaos when several students started violently assaulting him.<p>

Their skin was grey, their eyes were rolled back, and even worse: there were those bone-chilling moans. Despite this, Takayama kept his head clear and grabbed another student

"Hiyaaah!" With a mighty throw, Takayama threw the infected student flat on his back. For a while, the body didn't move. The P.E. teacher smiled and gave a boisterous laugh.

"Ha-ha-ha! Take that! This should-"

He stopped bragging when the student he flipped suddenly sat back up.

"Do the trick…" He finished in a scared voice, though he still had a smile on his face. Soon, Takayama was surrounded by a large group of Them. They let out growls and roars as they limped towards him. Takayama gulped in horror, no longer smiling.

"Oh, shit!" He shouted and ran inside the building.

Despite being a gym teacher as well as a club leader, Takayama's short and pudgy build did him no justice in running, especially now. He saw several of the undead laying on the walls of the building. Others were sitting down, devouring the remnants of their fellow classmates. All of a sudden, one of the beasts broke through a classroom window, almost grabbing Takayama.

"No! It's here, too!" He gasped. Now he was starting to stagger down the hallway, with a crazed look in his eye. His mind had become so raped that he didn't even notice a student, still living, that ran past him.

_This can't be real…It's gotta be a nightmare, right?_

* * *

><p>"This is no nightmare, Toshi-chan." I grimaced as I looked over the ground below.<p>

Now that we were on the roof, I could make out more of the scenery. Not just the school courtyards, but metropolis lying beyond it. The entire city of Tokonosu had smoke bellowing up from the ground. Sirens were heard all over, loud crashes could be heard, and the outlines of zombies were seen limping throughout the streets.

"The whole town-the entire city's on fire!" Misuzu exclaimed with awe in her eyes.

Nodding, I said: "No wonder why the cops didn't answer our calls."

Toshimi backed away, completely terrified. "But how? Everything was fine a few hours ago! How'd this all happen?" She sat on the ground and curled into a ball, quietly sobbing.

I shot a quick look at Misuzu, who just stared blankly at her crying friend. I just couldn't believe it. Misuzu and Toshimi are supposed to be best friends yet the former wasn't doing anything to comfort her now. What really surprised me was that Toshimi still showed concern for her "friend" even after such a brutal betrayal.

"Over there! Look!" Ryo pointed across the rooftops. Everyone looked to see what he was pointing at. I gasped.

"Komuro!"

Indeed. Komuro and his friends, Hisashi Igo and Rei Miyamoto were running on the roof of the lecture hall. From the looks of it, they appeared to be headed towards the observatory. Komuro was swinging a bat at any zombies that got in his way, while Miyamoto was using some sort of makeshift spear as her weapon. Igo on the other hand wasn't holding any type of tool. Instead he held his arm as he ran.

_Must've gotten a nibble, eh? _I thought.

As the trio made their way upwards, Miyamoto suddenly turned around and impaled one of _them_ with her spear. Bad move; the undead grabbed the pole and threw her into the wall. This made her drop the spear, which fell in her lap, and she grunted in pain. Groaning, the zombie towered over her before he was just inches away. Then the worst part came…

The ghoulish creature got on all fours and started lumbering his way towards Miyamoto. The girl's screams were loud enough for us to hear.

"NOOOOOOOO! STAY AWAAAAAAAY!"

Igo took the bat from Komuro and ran down to his girlfriend. He got in range and whacked the creature's head hard as soon as it stood up, leaving a bloody stain on the wall as it fell back. As Miyamoto walked over to him, Igo suddenly ran forward and kicked a female zombie down the stairs, her head shattering on impact.

All of us just continued watching the other group as they got supplies in the observatory and used them as a blockade to stave off the living dead. As Igo did this, Komuro looked around with a look of panic. We heard him scream:

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING OOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN?"

"Whoa!" Ryoyuki said in awe.

"No kidding." I heard Misuzu state like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey, everyone!"

We saw Oda running up to us, carrying a pack of what looked like drinks. I had wondered where the son of a bitch had gotten to, and the answer came clear when we saw that what he was carrying _was_ drinks. Sighing in relief, I walked over and got a bottle.

"You're a lifesaver, Oda! Thanks!" Soon I was unscrewing the cap and began to guzzle down the sweet nectar of satisfaction. "Where'd you find these?" I asked in between gulps. Ryo and the girls joined me soon after.

"They were in the student council building!" He said. "God, that place is so luxurious that it may as well be called the second summer break! And this was only one of the cases of drinks that they had inside.

Toshimi smiled cheerfully and optimistically. "Really? Then we can just stay here until help arrives-" Suddenly, her cheer died down and she looked at the ground, all depressing-like.

Wiping the liquid off my face, I walked over to and hugged her again. "Toshimi, I'm sorry that I dragged you all into this. But now I don't think help will come for a while."

"What?" The question was Ryo's. "Why not? Those choppers we saw flying over us earlier should come back eventually."

I shook my head. "Those were probably with the SDF (Self Defense Force). You know that they can't possibly help us. They must have been sent on a special mission under specific orders; they just can't go about as they please. Besides…" My outstretched hand pointed down where the savagery was taking place. "Despite what they're seeing, they're not stopping to help the school or the people here."

On the sports field, a young man with shoulder-length black hair and wearing the male gym uniform ran as two female zombies and a male one approached him. He attempted to climb a soccer goal to get out of the corpses' reach, but the male zombie ultimately grabbed his leg and bit into it.

"Graaaaaaaagh!" He screamed as the monster pulled him down, causing the soccer goal to collapse on both living and dead.

"EEEEEYAAAAGH!"

That last one belonged to a girl, and the voice sounded disturbingly familiar. My eyes quickly looked over the school to see who was making that specific scream. Finally, I saw a ginger-haired girl wearing a female sports uniform being chewed to pieces by three of her former teammates. I paled immediately when I saw her. At that moment I knew the reason why her voice sounded so familiar.

"Saki-chan!" I heard Oda run over from where the others were and saw his girlfriend being ripped to shreds by the zombies. He crumpled to his knees, his voice starting to break up. "Saki-chan…ugh…uuuu…ohhh…"

My heart sank at seeing him like this. We had finally located his girlfriend, only to see her get eaten from several distances away. Behind me, I saw Toshimi fall on her ass, tears rushing to her fear-filled eyes. Misuzu ran up and looked over the railing, quickly paling as Saki collapsed on the ground and was swarmed by the three of _them_. She backed away with her hands over her mouth.

"This isn't happening!" She murmured. "Damn, this is fucked up!"

"Grrrrr!"

Me and the girls all looked at Ryoyuki. He was staring down at the plight, his whole body trembling. But it wasn't trembling out of fear.

It was out of pure rage.

"GOD DAMMIT!" He howled, banging his bat hard against the railing. He glared daggers at us, though I knew his anger wasn't intentionally directed at us.

"A mere two friggin' hours ago, everything was just fine! So how'd it turn into this? Guys who get chewed on turn grey, start bleeding, and moan creepily! They then rise up and start ripping people up like the ones they got eaten by! This ain't a terroist attack; IT'S A FUCKIN' ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, DAMMIT!"

With those words, I ran over to him and slugged him hard in the face. He fell to the ground and stared up at me in rage. That expression turned to what I thought was fear as he saw from the look that I bore.

"Stop loud-shouting, NOW! You think we have it bad? Well I've got news for you: if you hate it so much, just jump off this roof now and die!"

Ryo gazed at me like I had become something unworldly and looked away in shame. Suddenly his eyes widened and then he allowed a tear to fall down his cheek. This was the first time I ever saw my roommate and soul brother cry. I glanced down at the area he was looking at. A female student with blonde hair ran away from several zombies, among them was Hayashi-sensei.

Now it was my turn to growl. Showing my teeth, I pierced my mouth so fucking hard that I bled. Misuzu immediately noticed this and made a disgusted face. I spoke to the creatures feasting on the living.

"You damned shiningen!" I growled.

"Shiningen?" Misuzu asked confused.

"That's what we'll call these things from now on…"

Oda, looking up at me with tears still in his eyes, gave me a puzzled look.

"Why should we call them that?"

Sighing, I explained: "They may look like something out of a _Resident Evil_ game or _Shaun of the Dead_, but we can't really call them zombies since this isn't a game or a film. So therefore, they are shiningen."

I took a breath before continuing. "They bite and infect living ningen and change them into a part of the undead hoard. It's probably the saliva in their mouths that triggers the change, not the actual bite itself. While most of them act like average, staggering zombies you'd see in a horror movie, there are some shiningen who can run at high speeds and can see where you are."

"Like the ones from the _28 Later_ series?" Oda inquired.

"Exactly…" I thought back to the fight with Aidamaru, the second shiningen we encountered (if you count the one who killed Tejima-sensei at the start of this mess). "Not to mention, it looks like bashing their heads in is the only way to permanently kill them."

There was the sound of a door opening in the distance.

We all looked around and saw across one of the other rooftops that a teacher was coming out. Quickly pursuing him was a sizeable group of shiningen who had him cornered against the fence. The teacher was pudgy and a little on the short side. He had blonde hair and he had some messy facial hair. His attire was a coach's uniform that was unbuttoned, unlike Kamigawa-sensei's, and he looked incredibly mesmerized.

"That's Takayama-sensei, of the judo club, right?" Misuzu asked.

* * *

><p>On top of the faculty building, Takayama backed away as the infected students cornered him on the edge of the roof. He had his back to the fence; there was nowhere else to go.<p>

"This-this isn't happening!" He whimpered. Suddenly, an insane smile appeared on his face. "Heh-heh…I get it now!" The P.E. teacher said weakly. "This really _is_ just a dream, after all!"

He then turned his back on the approaching mass of zombies and began scaling the fence. "After all, there's no way zombies could really exist! Heh-heh…" Soon he had reached the top.

"I've gotta wake up from this nightmare…I've gotta go to school!" Takayama said, gazing down at the courtyard. "There's all those new club members I'm gonna chew out today!"

His final words spoken, Maro Takayama leaned over and fell to the ground.

* * *

><p>Ryo's eyes widened as he saw Takayama climbing the fence.<p>

"What the hell?" He said in fear. "Don't tell me he's gonna-"

With that, Takayama reached the top, sat down for a few seconds, leaned off the fence and fell.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Ryo screamed as he fell to the ground, a large puddle of blood formed underneath the body as soon as it hit the pavement.

"That idiot!" Oda screamed angrily.

Misuzu just stood there petrified, while Toshimi shuddered in absolute terror.

"I-I can't take this anymore…" She murmured.

"Toshimi!" I ran over and hugged her in the event she had decided to throw herself off the roof.

"Just calm down; the shiningen won't be able to reach us up here!"

"How can I stay calm!" She wailed. "People are being chewed to death and are turning into zombies! Our world is dead!"

I irked at that comment slightly before letting her cry into my shoulder. She made a good point. To be honest, I wanted to believe that everything could be fixed, that somehow things would eventually go back to normal. And yet, I knew that the old world we had been familiar with had already been completely destroyed.

* * *

><p>A few hours had passed since the initial assault on Fujimi. The sun was beginning to set. Me and Ryoyuki were overlooking the campus. Misuzu was standing in another corner doing something, I don't know what. Toshimi and Oda were sitting next to the council building, while Oda cradled his arm that was damaged by Aidamaru earlier. His breathing was starting to get heavy and his skin looked slightly more pale than usual.<p>

Ryo turned to me and said. "We'd better get a fire started, yeah?"

Nodding, I replied. "Yes, we'll be sitting ducks if we have to fight those things in the dark."

"BLEGH! KOFF, KOFF! GYEEEEEGH!"

The two of us turned to hear what the source of that horrendous noise. We saw Oda coughing and there was also some blood on the ground and near the railing. Toshimi turned to us frantically.

"Gojo-kun! It's Oda-san! For some reason he's-"

"Enough, Niki!" Oda quickly cut her off.

Having heard the sounds herself, Misuzu glanced our way to see what was going on. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood. Oda continued coughing for a while, until he was able to breathe a little. He stared at his hand intentionally for a moment before smiling sadly.

Wait. Could it be…?

"I see…you're dead meat if they even get a small nibble, huh?" He coughed a little more before standing himself up, walking away from the rest of us.

"Oda?" Imamura asked nervously. "What are you saying?" He was now panicking. "Look, you're not gonna die, you hear me? Besides, nothing you see on the big screen will ever happen in real life!"

Oda just chuckled dryly, blood now coming out of his mouth. "Who're you trying to kid, Imamura? You all know that I'm a goner!"

"Don't say that! We can make it better, Oda! We'll get you to a hospital and-"

At that point, I stuck my arm out, signaling Ryo to shut up. I didn't want to admit it myself, but Oda had been bitten by a zombie. And as in every traditional zombie story, the rules apply without exception. The very moment that Aidamaru sunk his fangs into Oda, he was completely beyond all help.

After some more coughing, Oda turned to me. "Sakakibara, I've got one last request."

There was a long silence before I answered. "What do you want me to do?" I already knew what he was going to ask me, but for some reason, the question just came out anyway.

He snickered a little. "The moment that I turn…koff…quickly bash my skull in. I don't want to taste a human's flesh, dead or undead!"

My eyes widened and then narrowed. Finally, I answered.

"All right; but I hope you're prepared for this." I take my bokken and hold it out in front of me, waiting for the moment to strike.

"Thank-BLAUGH! Ohhhhh, ohhhh! Gyeeeyaaaaagh!" His response was cut off by the rushing of blood to his throat, which he violently coughed up and spread all over the roof. I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch him suffer like this, but soon I ended up looking anyway.

"Oi Gojo, don't hold anything back, ya hear me?" Oda's voice spoke to me again. He looked up at me and I saw that his eyes were bleeding, like his tears were made from blood. His voice had completely broken. God, it sounded like the guy was crying!

"Let me remain a human…to the very end!" These were the last words to be spoken by Junichi Oda, our friend. He coughed out even more blood and collapsed on the pavement. His body stopped moving completely and his eyes remained opened.

Just then, we heard Miyamoto shout from the observatory.

"YOU CAN'T DIIIIIIEEEE!"

I looked over and saw that the girl was over a downed Igo. Apparently he had died as well.

The look in my eyes as I stared at Oda's corpse was completely blank. I could hear whimpering behind me. Briefly glancing back, I saw Toshimi curved into a ball, the terror in her eyes paled everything else beforehand. Misuzu had an expression of sadness, though more subtle as she looked at the ground. Ryo fell to his knees and closed his eyes, water visible as his tears hit the ground.

I turned my attention to Oda, whose body had now begun to twitch. My eyes widened in fear. It's not like I wasn't expecting him to reanimate, but just watching it happen is very unsettling.

Soon the body was standing up, standing in a slight hunch.

"Oda?"

"Uuuuugh…"

I could have sworn that the theme from _28 Weeks Later_ was beating so fucking hard in my brain right now that it wasn't even funny. It was the music that played when Don abandoned Alice in the cottage while the zombies were chasing him.

"GRAAAAAGH!"

The Oda shiningen ran at me and swiped with a powerful arm. Barely dodging it, I swung hard and severed one of his arms. It roared in agony before charging at me once more.

"ODA!" I heard Ryo scream.

"NO! This isn't happening…this really can't be happening!" Toshimi cried out in fear.

"Heh."

For reasons unknown, I let a chuckle escape my mouth.

"Ha-ha!"

I suddenly exploded with psychotic laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With a sickening grin I added. "It really is unbelievable, isn't it?" The question wasn't directed at anyone but I had to get it out of my system. My insanity subsiding, I tilted my head slightly. There was still a small smile.

"I know it seems like something out of _28 Days Later_, or something like that. Trust me, even I can't believe it. God, this is stupid!"

"Gojo-kun?" Misuzu asked like if I was even the same person I was moments ago.

There was no time to posture. Oda caught sight of me and charged, roaring as he did so. My smile completely vanished.

"However…"

"Stop." This was from Ryo.

"I can whole heartedly assure you…"

"Gojo, no!"

"IT'S ALL REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAL!"

I screamed out the last word as I charged forward with my bokken in tow. Using my leg strength, I jumped high into the air and brought the sword down.

SPLAT

Across the rooftops, Miyamoto screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Whew! Long chapter, huh? I hope that you liked it and you'll continue to look forward to future updates! Next time Gojo and his three remaining team members leave the library's roof and go to the faculty building. They find out a disturbing secret behind Misuzu's earlier betrayal, as well as gaining some new teammates.

Later note: I'm sorry that I took this chap. down temporarily. I just wanted to edit some misspellings and reword a few things. Sorry about that.

Gojo's line: Cause I, will be there...for you! was a reference to Maon Kurosaki, the singer of the ending songs in the anime. The line is one of the lyrics in the song _The Place of Hope. _Be sure to look for more references in future chapters!

Title References:

Dead Illusion: The Sato brothers named this chapter themselves. It was the extra episode they wrote about Morita trying to cheer Takashi up by showing all the hot girls on campus besides Rei. It was called Dead Illusion probably refering to Morita's hopelessness with girls or the irony of the fact that he died in the canon and Takashi fulfilled his goal in his place.

Spirng of the Dead: Well, the story starts in Spring, since that's when the school year in Japan starts, as opposed to the American school year that starts in late Summer. I think that it also refers to the undead first arriving, or blossoming (there are a lot of cherry blossoms in Spring, of course that's nothing you don't already know if you're an expert in Japanese culture and geology), in which case the "dead have blossomed". At least, that's what I think they had in mind when they made the chapter/episode.

Pain of Dead: I named this chapter myself. Gojo feels pain for not being able to save Toshimi the first time, but I think it really refers to the team's overall feeling at losing Oda to Them; even more so when Gojo is forced to kill him. Poor guy...

To be continued…See ya


	4. Chapter 3: The Dead of Old Friendship

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the long wait; from now on I've gotta stop making chapters so long! Writer's block doesn't help either. Here's the third chapter. Still mourning over Oda, Gojo and his friends decide to go to the faculty room to see if they can meet up with other survivors. Misuzu starts acting cruel towards her best friend Toshimi and reveals a disturbing truth behind their "friendship". Soon, the gang makes some new friends and discovers that the infection has spread over the entire Earth. Realizing that help from the police or military is unlikely, Gojo resolves to find out whatever caused this pandemic, not knowing that the cause is closely tied to him.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Highschool of the Dead! The franchise is the property of Daisuke and Shoji Sato and Madhouse. Just as a side note, Them will from now on be referred to as shiningen by the main characters. Also, at times the story will deviate from Gojo's point of view and focus on other minor characters that weren't fully explored in the manga and anime, like Shido's followers, for example. In addition, in this story, there will be _28 Days Later_ style zombies in addition to the normal, lumbering corpses in the canon. On top of that, this story will feature a character that was planned to be in the normal comic but was cut out by the creators. All right; let the story continue!

* * *

><p><span><strong>Dead Scars<strong>

**The Dead of Old Friendship**

"_It's your entire damn fault, Toshimi Niki! And now because of this I'll never have my life back!"_

_I'd known Misuzu Ichijo for over a year and a half. This was the first time that I'd ever know her as a completely different person. As it turned out, I didn't understand anything about her or her feelings._

_When we met with the others, all I had on my mind was how we were going to get out of Fujimi. Little did I know that horrors that awaited us outside the campus would make the perils of this school seem like a casual walk in the park, though none of us realized at the time until it was far too late._

* * *

><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

The grounds of Sumiga Middle School were filled with children running around and playing with each other. A few miniature punks were roughhousing on the monkey bars, one of them falling and injuring his knee. He started bawling as his friends ran to get a teacher. Watching them go was a group of three girls that were 14 years of age.

"Sheesh, that Saburo's such an asshole!" A blond haired girl complained. "It's always Mr. Tough guy when he screws with us, but just one hit in the face and he cries like a baby! Just cause his mom's a member of the board of directors of that Fujimi place doesn't mean he can treat us like crap!"

Another girl, with dark blue hair bordering on black, and wearing glasses over blue eyes, shushed her friend.

"Quiet, Asuka! If the sensei hears you, we'll all get in trouble!"

"Jeez, you're such a wuss, Fumiko!" Said the red-head of the group.

"Not you too, Momo!"

The girls continued to talk while another girl observed from afar. She had brown hair in a small ponytail with short bangs on both sides of her head; her eyes were light brown in color. Scowling at the trio arguing, she walked off with her arms crossing her chest.

_Hpmh! Listen to them; acting so innocent! Tck! Girls like them get on my nerves! Bah, just give 'em a fuckin' playpen and be done with it!_

The said girl continued walking around the grounds until she saw someone. A different girl with loose dark blue hair was slumped against the wall. She was holding a doll against her rather sizable chest, much to the brown-haired girl's irritation. Hearing what sounded like crying, the brown-head walked over to the blue-head and stood over her.

"Hey. Why are you crying?" The blue haired girl looked up and saw her; the moment she did she turned away and looked at the ground.

"Go away." She murmured. "There's nothing I want to say to anybody!"

Brown-hair's left eye twitched slightly in annoyance. It subsided however when she got a better look at the blue-hair.

"Wait, I recognize you! You're that rich girl who's always being picked on, is that right?"

She sniffled a little bit before responding. "Yeah…"

"Well what's your name?"

"To-toshimi…" She mumbled.

"Huh? What was that?"

The blue haired girl whirled her head up and shouted, revealing her light blue eyes. "My name is Toshimi Niki!"

Her eyes widening, the brunette put her hands up. "Whoa, calm down! Why're you getting so pissed off?"

"Snff…I don't want to talk about it!" Toshimi put her head back down and continued crying. The brunette looked on for a while before sighing. She knelt down and put a hand on Toshimi's shoulder.

"C'mon! Quit crying! It's done and over with, right?"

Toshimi lifted her head and stared at the brunette's smile. It wasn't one of nervousness or contempt, this time it was a genuine smirk of reassurance. After a while of staring, Toshimi nodded, while the brunette patted her head.

"Thatta girl!"

* * *

><p><em>(A week later)<em>

Toshimi was watching Fumiko, Momo, and Asuka gossip about things that weren't important to her. She was too preoccupied with what the brown-haired girl said to her yesterday; the way that she suddenly comforted her without looking afraid or annoyed. Being from a wealthy family and having _everything_, many people ignored or talked about her behind her back, yet the brunette actually looked at her and told her to stop crying. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, and yet it was nothing like Toshimi had experienced before.

As opposed to the week before she was standing up and watching the others go about their activities, holding the doll loosely by one of its arms. Before long she heard someone approach her. She turned around and saw the brunette from a week ago. This time the said girl was loosely holding something, though Toshimi couldn't make it out.

"Hey, you feeling better?"

It was a simple question, yet the blue-haired girl didn't know how to answer it. Aside from the servants at home, Toshimi had never tried to actually socialize with anyone before. It was difficult to think of anything to say. She just nodded her head.

The brunette got a look like she couldn't believe what she just saw and took her by the hand and placed the object in it.

"Why don't you ever talk?" She asked irritably.

"I-I'm sorry! I just don't talk with others very much outside of home, that's all."

Sighing, the brunette grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the courtyards.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Toshimi asked.

"To have some fun, of course!" The brown haired girl said cheerfully. She turned to Toshimi and smiled.

"My name is Misuzu…Misuzu Ichijo. Nice to meet you, Toshimi." She gave a small wink. "You wanna be friends?"

Toshimi stared for a while. Could this be what her father had been talking about since she was four?

She smiled at Misuzu and nodded.

"Okay!"

_That's right! Misuzu was the one who coaxed me out of my shell and into a world of friendship and laughter. From that day forwards, I thought we'd all live peacefully. But now…_

* * *

><p><em>(A month into Gojo Sakakibara's first year at Fujimi Academy)<em>

It had been one month since my enrollment at Fujimi Private High School, or Fujimi Academy, for short. The school was pretty good, even though the expectations were higher than the public schools I attended. Still, I scored the highest on the entrance exams and immediately got popular as a result. As far as school clubs go, I joined the one that practiced kendo. Their captain, Saeko Busujima, seemed alright; though I don't recall ever seeing someone with _natural_ purple hair.

Then again, my hair was naturally white, so I really shouldn't complain. In fact, I remember that one of the teachers had dark blue hair while others had a majority of unnatural hair colors, too.

On that particular day I was eating a bento box that I had prepared for myself. My dad was a really good cook and all that, and Ryo wasn't all that good, so I usually made the meals for both us. It was mostly western food, though thanks to my studies, I was able to learn some Japanese dishes too, along with learning the local language. That's what I was eating on that day.

Anyways, I was under a cherry tree eating my lunch. Though most students chose to eat their meals in the cafeteria, eating on the roof and in the courtyards was permitted as well. I had made a few acquaintances along the way, but not any actual friends besides Ryoyuki. I wasn't feeling depressed or anything like that; it just felt empty without him around, is all, even with Oda and Aidamaru around.

While going through my own thoughts, I heard what sounded like a yelp followed by some things crashing onto the ground. I looked up and saw a girl lying face down on the ground. She was surrounded by supplies all around.

"What the hell?" I asked nobody. "Hey, are you all right?"

I ran over to the girl that was encircled by items and got a better look at her. She had dark blue, almost black colored, hair that was tied in a pigtail. Also, much to _both_ our embarrassments, her skirt was flipped up, revealing yellow panties.

"Oooohhh! That really hurt!" The girl rubbed her head as she turned and sat up. Upon doing so I noticed several more details about her.

She was quite cute, even beautiful, if you want to exaggerate. I could now see that her hair was combed slightly in the front along with some small bangs in front of her ears. Her eyes were light blue in color, about a shade lighter than Busujima-taicho's. The thing that I paid most attention to was the size of her boobs. They were quite sizable, around E cup by my estimate. Her expression when she looked at me was somewhat confused or dazed, as if she was still trying to snap out of her sudden mishap.

There was mostly silence while we just stared at each other, trying to figure out what was going to come next. Finally, I decided to speak up.

"Are- are you…alright?"

"Y-yeah…"

More silence followed, just us staring at each other, not knowing what to say.

The girl stood up and dusted herself off, trying to get the dirt off her face and clothing. Seeing this, I got up and made my way towards her while she picked up the crates that she had dropped.

"If I ended up causing this, then I apologize." I said, giving her a hand.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't even notice you until I looked up!"

I sweat dropped when she said that. The way she had worded that made me feel like that I wasn't important or anybody special. For some reason, I allowed it to get to me and I adjusted my shades.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" My tone showed my annoyance at her statement.

She threw her hands up after she finished stacking the last box.

"I, uh, didn't mean to upset you!"

"No, it's fine. In any case, why were carrying all of these cases?"

"Oi! Toshimi!"

The new voice belonged to another girl that was standing by the corner of the building which contained the faculty offices. Her hair was blackish-brown with long bangs on both sides of her head. It was tied in a bun and wrapped in cloth with two mid length pieces coming off from behind. She was cute, but her chest was almost completely nonexistent. Flat as billboard, as one would say.

"Come on!" The brunette waved at her. "Kumi-sensei's gonna give us an ear-full if we're a second late!"

"Hai! Coming, Misuzu!"

Having all of her supplies, the now named pigtailed girl dashed off to join her also named friend. They disappeared around the corner as I stared after them.

Scratching my head, I wondered what that was all about. Deciding not to get too involved I shrugged off the matter and went back to lunch. While staring out into space I noticed that there was still a crate lying around. The girl must have forgotten to pick it up when she left.

I picked it up and brought it over. I would have to return this later.

Quickly, I wrapped up my meal and cleaned up. As soon as that was done, I decided to walk around the courtyards. Technically there was still 15 minutes of lunch left, so students were free to do whatever they pleased during the hour. Of course, some like my friend Ryoyuki, along with that blonde guy Morita and his friend Komuro, would abuse this privilege and skip classes to cause mischief or to just sulk. In Ryo's case, he'd skip lessons just so that he could get a chance to smoke his cigars. They were left behind by his father when he left for Osaka. He mostly smoked on the roof, though on occasion he'd do it in the alleyways between the buildings.

Listen to me going on and on about this irrelevant shit. I mean, personally, I never gave a damn if Ryo smoked underage. After all, when he rescued me from death during our first meeting, I never bitched about it. As I continued to walk and not really care much about the cherry blossoms blowing about, I heard another sound.

"YEAAAAAAAGH!" _CRASH_

A short scream which was quickly followed by a bunch of stuff roughly hitting the ground suddenly brought me out of my daze. The noise came from around the corner up ahead. Feeling curious, I rounded the corner to check it out.

There was a young man lying on the ground with dark brown hair and who was wearing round-framed glasses that were blue in color. Not to mention there were boxes of office supplies scattered around, most of which appeared to be medical equipment.

The scene was the exact same as with the pigtailed girl.

_Is something weird going on today?_

Sighing, I ran up to the boy who had tears of pain start in his eyes.

"Damn it!" He moaned. "Why did they have to spill when I was _so_ close?"

I walked up and stood over him. As soon as he looked up at me he screamed.

"WAAAAAGH!" He got into the formal sitting position and bowed. "Forgive me, sir! I tripped and everything spilled!"

My eyebrow raised in confusion. What was this guy talking about? Noticing that he was overreacting, I tapped him on the back of the head to get his attention.

"Relax. I'm not a teacher or anything."

Holding the back of his head, the four-eyes lifted his eyelids and saw me. His expression seemed a bit geeky or at the very least paranoid. Yet...

I brushed off any negative thoughts and reached out my hand.

"Would you like some help?"

Adjusting his glasses, the boy looked at me awkwardly before answering.

"There's- there's no need!" He said somewhat cautiously. At last he stood up, and when he did I noticed that he was quite tall, about a head taller than me. I was still in awe about his height when he bent down and started stacking the boxes. There were about fourteen of them and judging from the amount of supplies in each of them, it was a miracle that the boy hadn't collapsed from tire a good ways back.

Deciding to help out anyways, I bent down and started to stack too. As I was on my fourth crate, four-eyes must have noticed me and spoke up.

"I said that you didn't need to help!"

"Calm down. There's no way you can keep carrying all fourteen! Besides…"

Pausing a bit, I smiled with a warm look in my eyes. I had realized at that moment that this was the perfect opportunity to make a friend. Even though I had only just met this guy I somehow felt that it wouldn't hurt to be aquatinted at least. I introduced myself as I lifted the boxes.

"Gojo is my name; Gojo Sakakibara."

Giving me a confused look, the boy stared for a while before talking.

"Kazu…Ishii…" He said. I raised a brow at why he hesitated paused for a moment before saying his whole name.

"Kazu…" I said his name while processing it.

"Not a very unique name, is it?" He said with a sad smile

"Uh-huh…" I nodded. The atmosphere around him darkened as he hung his head.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything offensive by that. Anyway, where are you taking these?" I shook the crates a little to get his attention.

Kazu snapped out of his mini-depression, reacting to the sound of the contents of the boxes shifting.

"Be careful with those!" He panicked. "There's some very important medical equipment in there!" I stopped shaking and stared at him. The guy's reaction did not seem out of place, but at the same time was a bit over the top. My mind went on to other things and I remembered him saying that there were medical supplies in the boxes.

"These are to go to the nurse's office?"

He nodded while adjusting his glasses. Deciding that he needed a moment to compose himself, I carried the crates ahead of him and entered the building. Walking to the nurses' office, I realized that I had never been there before, having not been injured on campus in my first month here. At that point, curiosity took over and I opened the door to the doctor's place.

The room was fairly average looking; typical of what you would see in a nurse's office. Looking around, I noticed two things that were out of place. The first were the posters of…certain adult content that weren't meant to be shown in school, even if it was private. Secondly, a blonde-haired woman could be seen snoozing at the desk. My guess is that she was the school nurse, sleeping on the job.

I approached the woman and tapped her on the back of the head (think Gibbs from NCIS). She moaned as she sat up and stretched her arms before making one peculiar noise.

"Myeh?"

"You're the nurse, right? I've got these for you."

Now that she stood up I could make out several more of her features. Her eyes were hazel and she wore a white dress shirt with a bow tying it together near the collar, which was bent downwards. Down there she wore a brown skirt that appeared to be shining. My guess is that it was Prada-brand because the material that made it up looked expensive. Her long blonde hair had bangs running down both sides of her head, framing her face, with several more in front.

However, the most notable trait about her was the size of her chest. God, it was gigantic! So gigantic that I thought that it was just a fake for her to show off. Hell, I was so tempted to touch them that I had to turn away for a moment.

"Heeeeey…" She moaned, still coming out of her nap. "You looka lot different than yesterday when you gave me that bag…"

She probably confused me with Kazu, so I corrected her.

"We're not the same person. Anyway, the supplies?" I lifted the boxes.

She got up and started wiggling her ridiculous-sized curves, moaning with complaint.

"Nooooo! Bring in the other guy and let him drop it all off!"

I sweat dropped at her childish response. Who calls her assistant by "the other guy"? Was this really the nurse of a private school?

_If so, the future of Japan's Health Department is looking bleak._

"Sorry for the wait, Shizuka-sensei!" Kazu's voiced echoed behind me and I turned to see him coming in with the crates.

The now named woman stopped wiggling and stared at him, an uncomfortable silence filled the air. No one said anything for a few moments before I broke the silence.

"I'll just leave these here…" I said, putting down the crates in a corner. "See you around if I get the chance, Kazu." Smiling awkwardly, I waved my hand and walked out of the office.

Watching me go, Shizuka gestured to Kazu to put the crates in a corner and then turned to him.

"Now help with thing you store blood in, Ketsu-…err…Ichi…ummm…" She stuttered trying to think of her assistant's name. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"What was your name again?" She asked, pointing a finger.

_Not again._

* * *

><p>It was later on in the day, second to last period, during the passing time when I dropped the box off at the faculty room. I had to rush to my next period via the walkways in-between buildings (though they were technically prohibited unless in an emergency).<p>

It was history class with Koichi Shido-sensei, a subject that I had some trouble in. Anyways, Shido-sensei had a weird way of phrasing things that sounded philosophical. A bit of a vocal Darwinist, the sensei often made a lot of gestures whilst talking. Picture a combination of Light Yagami from Ota-sensei and Obata-sensei's _Death Note_ and Lelouch Lamperouge in Taniguchi-san's _Code Geass_; that's what it was like. Appearance-wise, he looked like the character Koshaku "Papillion" Chono from Watsuki-sensei's _Buso Renkin_. (I'm a bit of a manga reader, get used to it!)

Anyways, I entered the class 3 minutes before the bell rang and I could see Shido-sensei was already there. He wore glasses over his dark-golden yellow eyes and his usual black pinstripe suit over a white dress shirt along with a black tie. While I walked to my desk, Shido gave a small smile while closing his eyes, a warm look showing on his face.

"Ah, Sakakibara-kun! You're slightly later than usual. Did something happen?"

I gave him an uneasy look. Another thing about this teacher was the eerie aura he produced. It's not that I disliked him (at the time), but he gave off this air that made him feel very creepy. Whether or not I was the only one in school who felt that way about him before the current era I may never know.

Shaking my head no, Shido gestured for me to take my seat. I did just that and soon the class began. All around me there were a few faces I recognized, some I somewhat recognized, and those, like a certain boy with dark-blue hair and no gakuran jacket, who I didn't know at all. Kurokami, Busujima-taicho, Taniuchi, Morita, and several others were all taking notes while Shido-sensei drew on the board.

But let's skip this boring lesson. I'm sure you don't want to get disinterested in this tale.

After class ended, the final period passed without delay and I went to the locker room to get ready for club. On my way there I thought for a moment that someone was watching me from around the hallway bend. When I looked behind, there was no one. Yet I still had a disturbed feeling in my gut. My thoughts drifted back to Shido-sensei and the eerie aura he produced.

_Just listen to me, acting all paranoid._

"Hey, you over there!"

I turned around and saw a familiar face; it was the brown-haired girl whose hair was tied in a bun cloth. The look on her face was neutral, though somewhat shy and confused as I saw in her brown eyes.

"Um…" She was blushing while she stuttered. "About the box: thanks."

She was obviously referring to the crate that her friend dropped earlier.

"It was no inconvenience." I said with a smile. "You are welcome."

The girl smiled slightly before resuming her words. "Thanks again."

Nodding briefly, I began to walk away when I saw someone peaking from behind the bend. Seeing the pigtail I knew right away who it was.

"Toshimi!" The brunette called out. "Quit hiding and introduce yourself!"

I turned and gave her a weird look. "You haven't exactly said who you are, you know."

"Huh? Oh, sorry! I'm Misuzu Ichijo; nice to meet you!" She grinned and made the peace sign while winking. At that point I blushed slightly. This Misuzu was cute, to put it mildly (even if her chest was on the negative end of the scale). Dismissing the perverse thought, I just chuckled.

"Likewise, Gojo Sakakibara."

I could've sworn that I saw some sweat drip down her head after I said my name. Then again, I was somewhat famous around school, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Continuing, I said:

"I'm sure that you have heard of me."

"…"

Silence continued until it was broken once more.

"Hehe…"

Misuzu laughed a little. She must have seen the confused look on my face because not too long afterwards she began snorting.

"Wow." I said in a deadpan manner. "You sound like a goddamn pig!"

She stopped laughing and stared at me, clearly offended. Before I knew it, my cheek was red and swelling and the girl was stomping away huffing.

At that point my memories ended and I returned to the present.

Specifically: the nightmares of that current present.

* * *

><p><em>(The present, shortly after the assault on Fujimi Academy)<em>

Misuzu stared at the corpse of Junichi Oda, feeling solemn and depressed. Though she hadn't known him very well besides him hanging around me, it was never easy for someone to watch another kill. As for me, I just stood over the body with a blank stare. I could not believe what I had just done. I had just killed one of my closest friends. Even though it was unavoidable, the weight was both figuratively and literally killing me as I wiped off the blood coating my bokken.

For a while there was nothing but silence. Understandable, but that didn't make it any less uncomfortable. Once more, I thought back through the day's events. It all started when I was late to school, I talked with Oda about girls, we saw Tejima-sensei get killed by a zombie, he rose and killed Hayashi-sensei, and then Uchiyamada-sensei. Soon after, Kamigawa-sensei tried to warn the school and got killed, which everyone heard and then panicked as a result. We ran into and fought Aidamaru, and his bite ended up killing Oda eventually. That girl with Akio was killed and Saotome gave us a clue to what was happening to our world before he died. Misuzu betrayed Toshimi and somehow I revived her, and then Oda gave in to the infection and rose back as a shiningen.

"What a fucked up day." I said out loud, though the statement wasn't directed at anyone specifically.

"Oh ya think, Mr. Obvious?" Misuzu muttered sarcastically. For some reason, her mannerisms were more masculine then earlier. Though she was the more tomboyish and outgoing of the Ichi Ni Sisters, this felt…disturbing.

Sighing, I glanced down at the shiningen walking around the campus. I could no longer see any live people running or screaming down there. I could only assume that any humans still alive were either completely gone, were struggling inside the buildings, or had gotten wiser so as not to get caught. I was seriously hoping that it was the latter. The thought of the four of us being the only ones left alive here at Fujimi was discouraging.

Imamura got to his feet and picked up his bat, his grip tightening.

"Look you guys, we need to get down from here and get off the campus."

Misuzu and Toshimi turned to look at him while I just looked into the sky. Even though it was faint, I could feel rain pouring slightly. It was as if the sun was bleeding tears through the sky.

"Why?" Misuzu asked. "There's plenty to drink and eat up here. Why should we leave?"

Toshimi took this opportunity to speak. "Imamura-san's right, Misuzu! There's nothing for us here now! What we should be doing is looking for a safe place to hide until this blows over!"

"And when did I ask you for your opinion, bitch? Huh?" Misuzu responded in a cold tone.

The pigtailed girl's eyes widened at this harsh statement. I actually admired her for acting like nothing happened after Misuzu gave her up to the zombies. To be honest, I was still afraid to ask Misuzu about why she betrayed her best friend. What if it turned out to be something that I'd regret hearing?

Deciding to put questions aside, I lowered the ladder leading to the pavement down below. Ryo was right about one thing: staying up here would only ensure our deaths. We needed to get down and see if we could find other survivors.

"Ryo's right!" I called out to the gang who all turned to look at me. "Come on! Let's get to the faculty room!"

All of them just stared at me for a while. Toshimi then made her way over to me and hugged me, crying silently. I put my arms around her as well to comfort her. Ryo soon walked up and said to me:

"Gojo…" He trailed off and glanced back at Oda's corpse. "Are we just gonna…leave him here?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "Carrying the body with us would only be physically and literally dead weight. Besides…"

I glanced over at the other rooftop, where Komuro, Igo, and Miyamoto had escaped to. Komuro and Miyamoto were gone, Igo's body still lying there with a cloth draped over its head. "I doubt anyone will be burying anybody anytime soon."

I looked down in shame. "This is my fault." I said. "I should have let him have the bat when we were at the shed. And look at the result." No one responded to that, not even Ryo. Hanging my head slightly, I began to start down the ladder.

"Now come on!" I said once more as Misuzu walked towards us. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

><p>When we got to the bottom and began moving, the girls were relieved to see that the shiningen didn't all come at us at once. Hell, most of them were too busy eating what was left of their victims to pay much attention. Still, I thought it best that we kept quiet at least until we found a bigger group so that we didn't lose another member.<p>

Ryoyuki was in the back while I kept the front in check. Misuzu and Toshimi were in the center since they couldn't fight, but that would have to change soon.

_We'll definitely have to get them weapons at some point._ I thought. Needless to say, fighting shiningen with our bare hands was out of the question. Just ask Oda.

I then wondered what was happening with Komuro's group. The last time I looked, Miyamoto was leaning over Igo and shouted that he couldn't die. Igo was undoubtedly dead, and then put down as a shiningen, most likely by Komuro, since I couldn't imagine Miss Roach-head going through with it.

Misuzu suddenly broke formation and ran towards something. I quickly caught up to her to prevent any noise from being made. Though I hadn't shared any of my thoughts with my group, the shiningen only seemed to react to sound. That being the case, I couldn't have us acting as we please.

"Why'd you run?" I shouted quietly.

The brunette pointed to the ground and my eyes saw what either seemed like a nail gun or a drill that was surrounded by a puddle of blood. Apparently, one of the more sensible students had took precautions and secured a weapon for themselves. Of course, the blood strongly implied that they were either overwhelmed by the undead or betrayed by their classmates when they got bitten.

"Looks like a nail gun." Ryo said as he walked over. Toshimi saw the blood and immediately turned away. Her "best friend" did not do the same. She reached down and picked up the gun, examining it.

"I'm impressed that you haven't barfed." I told her.

"Oh, please! After everything we've seen today, you think that fresh blood is gonna make me hurl?" She made somewhat of an evil grin as she pointed the gun at a shiningen that was a good distance away. Misuzu angled her new weapon and fired it at the beast. It collapsed with a thud on the ground.

She stuck out her tongue and licked the barrel. It happened so quickly that I don't think that the other two with me noticed it. At that point, I was getting really worried about Misuzu's behavior. Her personality seemed to have greatly changed since that incident in the library. And my gut told me that it wasn't due to the sudden zombie apocalypse.

"Outta my way! I'll kill you all you sons of bitches!"

We all heard shouting from around the corner of the library where we just came from. This was followed by a student running from a few shiningen. The kid had blond hair that was pointed and spiky in the center. He was using an old wooden bat to defend himself, but he wasn't going to last long at the rate he was going.

As he got closer to us, I recognized him. Ryoyuki's eyes widened in astonishment; he would've never thought that _he_ of all people would still be alive.

"Morita…" He murmured. Indeed, it was Fujimi Academy's number one pervert and rumor mill, Natsuhiko Morita.

Before dashing to the rescue, I gave the campus another quick look around. The air was filled with the sick stench of blood.

"Damn it!" I growled. "If the courtyards are this bad, just imagine what's happening inside the buildings where there's less space to move!"

* * *

><p><em>(Inside Fujimi Academy, around the same time as the chaos started)<em>

A male student was running for his life. Glancing behind, he saw more of those…_things_…attacking his schoolmates, eating them. Deep down, he felt fucked for leaving his classmates to die, but what could he do? He wasn't trained in any martial arts so fighting was out of the question, and there was nothing to use as a makeshift weapon like a bat anywhere around. That being the case, the only other option was to run like hell.

The student was too horrified by the sights around him to notice that three shiningen were in front of him. Without warning, a zombified teacher tackled the young man to the ground, chewing his stomach. Just as swiftly, a female student zombie burst through a window and began staggering towards him. After that, a male zombie ran over to the downed student, leaned downwards, and bit into his stomach, ripping the clothing and flesh off of the living human.

"GYAAAAAAAGH!" The student screamed in pain as he coughed up blood. The student zombie began to rip out his organs for all to see. Truly, this student of the living had been lost forever.

As he died, he never noticed a petite girl with dark grey hair and glasses watching the gruesome sight. Remembering that they responded to sound, the girl quietly ran away, determined to get out of this cesspool.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, another male student was running away from three corpses dashing after him. Like the things from <em>28 Days Later<em>, these zombies could run and see their prey. Seeing this, the student decided to lure these things away from his classmates so that they could escape. It looked noble at the time, but now came the hard part. He had to somehow lose the monsters chasing him and meet with the others somehow.

The student knew that there was no way that he was going to make it. He could feel the cold lifeless breath of the beasts brushing his skin as he started to lose stamina. Eventually his footing was lost and that doomed him. A strong, yet cold, set of arms, followed by a second and soon a third, wrapped around him. One by one they sank their fangs into the boy, causing him to fall forward.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

* * *

><p>A female student had been backed into a corner. She had been trying to escape with some girlfriends but a massive error in judgment caused all of them besides her to get killed. <em>It must be bad karma… <em>She thought as the male in the lead lunged forward, grabbed her by the legs, and bit into her stomach. The creature began to gnaw her belly raw right down to the organs, which he then took a bite into. A second shiningen walked up and nibbled on her shoulder slightly, ripping it off. Paralyzed with fear, the girl did nothing but shiver as she was eaten alive.

All of a sudden, the girl found her voice. "AAAAAAAAGH! HELP ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE!" Blood trailed down her neck as she coughed it up, splattering all over the shiningens' faces. Not that this did anything to deter them from eating her. Slowly, but surely, the former humans enjoyed their meal, knowing that yet another of their kind was about to be born into the world.

* * *

><p>"Move it!" A male student cried out. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, you fuckin' son of a fuckin' bitch! Don't make me fuckin' kick your fuckin' ass ya fuckin' fuckwad!"<p>

Seeing that the student he was yelling at wasn't willing to cooperate, the boy kicked him hard in the back causing him to lose balance and fall towards a window. The glass shattered immediately and the student fell to the ground. He died instantly upon impact. Smiling in content, the student who kicked him ran down the hallway, confident that he would escape.

All those hopes were crushed as soon as he turned the next corner. A large group of shiningen cut him off from the walkway to the administration building. Gritting his teeth, he turned back the way he came only to find that They had occupied that area as well. The student was completely surrounded on both sides. Gazing as both hordes closed in on him, he stood where he was, not wanting to admit that this was the end.

"Damn it!" He said in an angry, yet scared tone. "How'd they multiply this quickly?" The boy backed against the wall, knowing that his life was over.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? RAAAAAAAAAGH!"

* * *

><p>"NOOOOO!" A girl cried out. Her former classmate bit into her arm and tore a chunk out. Using a piece of glass from one of the windows, the girl thrust it into her attacker's eye socket. The creature's teeth loosened, fell to the ground, and no longer stirred after that.<p>

Her relief was brief and fleeting. Yet another undead grabbed onto her and chomped on her shoulder blade, making blood gush out.

"Get away! Get awaaaaaay!" She twisted her body thanks to her gymnastics and kicked it in the chest. It didn't have much, if any, effect as the creature kept walking towards her.

"EEEEEEEEK!"

"Kisara!" Another girl cried out just in time as her friend got eaten.

Nearby, a boy with a white long-sleeved shirt and short green hair walked by, clutching his injured shoulder. His name was Saburo Inaba.

Saburo wasn't necessarily the nicest of people, to put it mildly. He was the head of a group of delinquents ever since his days at Sumiga. The bully was the very definition of a wimpy momma's kid. Sure he talked tough, but when it came to a fight, Saburo would always hide behind his buddies while they roughed up his enemies. If he ever came under attack himself, Saburo would bitch and moan until his mother, Adachi Inaba, came and broke it up, getting the perpetrator in trouble, regardless of their reasoning.

The only exception was when in middle school, Saburo and his buddies made the mistake of bullying some girls. A boy named Miura who was friends with them got pissed and stomped the shit out of Saburo, though his gang quickly got back at him. Adachi heard about the incident and went to the school board to have Miura expelled, but the charges were dropped when too many rumors spread around about the Inaba clan's "secret funding".

Now the kid was a complete wreck. After that teacher had made that crazy announcement, and the whole school panicked, Saburo got his best guys and decided to go to the staff room and find his mother. Along the way, however, all of his gang was killed and he was left for himself with no weapons for defense. Some of Them caught Saburo and gnawed his shoulder, and another had bitten his neck, though the bite wasn't deep enough to cause any fatal damage (at least physically).

Despite his cruel personality, the very sight of Saburo now would make anyone feel sorry for him. His mind had totally snapped, unable to accept the reality of what he was seeing: people with gray skin, making sick moans and growls, and blood oozing from their mouths eating people? And then those people get back up and turn into the same thing? It was pure insanity.

"Th-this can't be happening!" Saburo murmured in fear, a fucked up smile appearing on his face. "It's all just a nightmare, right mom?" He turned to see a teacher running from a dashing zombie. She had green hair and wore glasses. Under her purple vest was a black skintight jumpsuit, along with a pair of jeans covering her huge ghetto booty. She was screaming her lungs out as the zombie eventually caught up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in and biting her neck. The zombie sunk his fangs so deep that Adachi's screaming was abruptly cut off when her head was ripped off. The headless body hit the ground right in front of her son, who just stared at it with an insane grin.

"Mom?" He asked. "Heh. Heheheheheheheheheheheheheh….AHAHAHAHAHA!" Saburo's crazed laughter filled the blood-soaked hallways.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA…oomph…mmmph…uuufff…" The laughing ceased when the same zombie who killed his mother lunged at Saburo. The beast grabbed his head and chomped on his face, knocking the boy to the ground.

* * *

><p>While this was occurring, several other students ran down the bloody corridor, dodging as others scampered around, worrying only for their own safety.<p>

One of the boys had black hair and brown eyes. He was carrying a baseball bat and had a sports towel around his neck.

The girl running next to him had dark blue, almost black, hair that went down slightly past her head that was parted in the center. Her eyes were bluish grey and on there were freckles on each side of her face. She gazed outside the windows, cringing in fear at the sight of all the smoke rising in the distance.

"Takuzo…" The girl whimpered. "How did this happen? Everything went to hell in only a few hours!"

"There's no time to worry about that now, Naomi!" The boy replied, gripping his bat tightly. "All that matters is getting the hell out of here!"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Takuzo and his gang continued to run for the front entrance. It may have been the most infested area, but it seemed like the only logical place to go at the time. He glanced behind him and saw who else besides his girlfriend was running with him.

There was a red-headed girl with golden-brown eyes. Her bust was slightly larger than Naomi's and she had a look of pure terror on her face.

Next was a black-haired young man with a somewhat gaunt-looking face. His hair had multiple split ends. Unlike the red-head, his expression was more nervous looking than scared. Takuzo could still tell he was horrified by the frantic way he was running.

Behind him came a very paranoid looking individual. Unlike the other boys in the group, he wasn't wearing a gakuran jacket, exposing his long-sleeved white shirt. He had dark blue hair with short bangs on the sides and was carrying a long metal pole, similar to the one that Joji Uchiyamada used before his death.

Lagging behind was a blonde spiky-haired guy also with a gaunt-shaped face. There were some loose strands of hair that waved around as he ran.

Finally, there was another guy who was in front of Takuzo that also had black hair. His gakuran was open, exposing a light green undershirt.

Takuzo remembered that there was an eighth guy in his group, but he separated himself from them to buy them a chance to escape. He highly doubted that they'd be seeing him again. After all, in a catastrophe such as this, anything could happen.

Panting, the guy with the white shirt asked. "I wonder if Komei made it safely." He was no doubt referring to the guy who had separated from them.

"Are you joking, Shiroga?" The blond boy spat incredulously. "There's no way he's still alive with those things chasing him! Did you see how fast they were?"

Suddenly, one those "things" let loose an agonizing scream. The whole group whirled around to see seven zombies charging at them. Naomi's eyes widened before tears started moving down her cheeks.

"Momo! Maruyama! RUN!" She shouted to the red-head girl and the gaunt-faced boy.

They needed no further encouragement when they saw the beasts screaming and flailing their arms around. Most of the group picked up the pace, but the blondie was unable to keep up. His panic was so high that he never felt the hands of one of Them grasp around his body. He fell to the ground, being bitten in the process.

"Sai!" The guy with the open jacket turned around to see his friend screaming for help as the undead gnawed on him.

"Shit! He's already done for, Murashi!" Maruyama shouted. "Kawamoto, Shiroga!"

The said students ran up to Takuzo and Naomi, trying to get away from the three corpses still sprinting after them. Just then, Murashi whirled around and faced them.

"Shima!" He said to Takuzo. "Take everyone and get outta here! I'll buy you some time!"

"You're crazy! We already lost two people!"

Murashi gave his group a smirk before turning.

"Don't worry; I won't be killed so easily by these motherfuckers!"

He turned down a different hallway while banging a piece of glass against a railing. These undead weren't blind like their lumbering cousins outside, however. Also, though mainly relying on instinct like normal zombies, these "28 Later" beasts retained some level of intelligence, such as being able to make gestures and come up with basic plans, and as such were able to guess what Murashi was planning. Despite this, the leader decided that he and his friends could put off feasting on the five students for now and instead chase the single "brave" one that had broke off from them.

Seeing their chance, Takuzo, Naomi, Momo, Maruyama, and Shiroga ran for the entrance, desperate to find out what was happening to the place they once called their home away from home.

* * *

><p>"Th-thanks for the save, Imamura!" Morita wheezed, clearly out of breath.<p>

"Tch. Don't thank me! Gojo's the one who had to save your sorry ass!" Ryo stated.

"I would've lasted a little longer even if you hadn't found me!"

"Would you guys break it up?" Toshimi whined.

Sighing, I placed my bokken behind my back. None of the shiningen were going to approach us anytime soon, so I felt like we needed a break. We were able to save another life, so that should be taken with pride. I'll admit that Morita was kind of annoying, but we would need as many people as possible to help us get out of here.

Hell, maybe I the only reason I decided he was worth saving was because his wiseass remarks would be needed to brighten the mood. From that point of view, perhaps there wasn't any point in rescuing the guy. Ah well…

In any case, Morita was talking to Ryo about something irrelevant while I noticed Misuzu just looking the other way. She was staring at the top of the roof where we had left Oda. Toshimi noticed this and quickly came up behind me. When she gave me a worried glance, I put a hand on her shoulder. I walked over to her friend and asked.

"Hey, why are you so quiet?"

She turned her head slightly and gazed at me. The look on her face was solemn and emotionless.

"Aside from humanity coming to an end, not knowing if my family's okay, and the fact that we're surrounded by walking corpses, not much else. I just need some space, so go away." She closed her eyes and smiled sadly. "I'll be fine on my own!"

My mouth went agape, not believing what the brunette had just said. Did she really think that she could survive alone without anyone to help her fight these beasts?

As if to object, Toshimi walked up to her friend, reaching her arm out.

"Mi-Misuzu? About what happened in the library-"

"I'm under no obligation to answer your questions, you bitch!" It wasn't a shout, but it definitely sounded angry, not like she sounded a minute ago. "So don't touch me!"

Toshimi retracted her hand for a minute. She then reached out again and touched Misuzu's shoulder.

"Hey, come on!" She tried being cheerful. "We're BFFs, you and I, not to mention Gojo-kun is-"

"I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!"

_POW_

The moment that Toshimi touched her, Misuzu shrugged her off and slapped her very, very hard in the face. The look she had on was one of sheer anger and hatred. Her teeth were showing as her brown eyes blazed with contempt.

Toshimi fell backwards and landed on the ground. She looked to the side, flabbergasted by Misuzu's sudden hostility. When she turned to the look up at the brunette, she was horrified by the beastly expression on her face. Misuzu then pulled her arm back and slammed her fist into Toshimi's face. The brunette was on top of her and began rapidly punching the pig-tailed girl while she blocked as well as she could.

"Stop it! Please stop! Misuzu!"

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU REALLY PISS ME OFF YOU DAMN BITCH! I HATE YOU!" Misuzu practically was screaming out the words as she began strangling her friend. "I'LL KILL YOU! YA HEAR ME? YOU'RE DEAD!"

"ENOUGH!"

I ran over and yanked Misuzu off of Toshimi, who was now coughing heavily. Morita and Ryoyuki ran over to see what the fuss was about, though I'm pretty sure that they saw everything.

Morita's eyes widened when he saw the bruises on Toshimi's neck. Ryo had a look of disbelief.

"Jeez!" He turned to the struggling Misuzu that I was holding. "What the hell's your problem, Ichijo? Ya tryin' to kill her or something?"

"Damn straight!" She shouted back. "She deserved to get killed by those damn monsters, but then you guys had to spoil it!"

Misuzu wrestled herself out of my grip, glancing at me and looking pissed. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. Misuzu sounded like she wanted to get rid of Toshimi and that this apocalypse was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"What are you talking about? Why are you acting like this?"

She whirled her head around and glared at me.

"It hasn't been obvious to you, Gojo?" I noticed that she didn't add the -kun honorific to my name this time. "The way you call her "Toshi-chan", the way you always laugh with her, hell, you even went on a date with her when I was absent from school one time!"

I winced. True, I went on an "unofficial" date with Toshimi around the same time that Igo and Miyamoto hooked up, but she was the one who insisted on it, and I sort of just…flew with it. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, mind you, but I tried not to get too close in case Misuzu somehow got word.

_Guess it was in vain…_

Misuzu walked back over to Toshimi and grabbed her by the combed section of her hair. She pulled her until they were only centimeters away.

"You know, before you showed up, even though I came from a middle-class family, my life was as perfect as they came! Excellent grades, talk of the school, always in the limelight!"

Her hair briefly obscured her eyes before revealing them again. They were in slits, not unlike that of a snake's or an angry cat's. Toshimi was completely in shock and terror, not making a sound.

"Then I met you, and to be honest, I felt sorry for you being all alone and bullied like that! So I decided to open up a new world for you and be your 'best friend'! Sure, we were _both_ stars during junior high, but then…"

We could hear the girl gritting her teeth as she growled slightly. That's when things got even worse.

"SOON AFTER WE STARTED HIGH SCHOOL, EVERYONE STARTED TO ONLY PAY ATTENTION TO YOU!" Misuzu roared. "All the boys were asking YOU out! YOU were the only one of us two that the other girls enjoyed partying with! Hell, Gojo never called me 'Misu-chan' once! I was practically invisible to the world! And even more infuriating…"

With those words, Misuzu turned Toshimi around and roughly squeezed her sizeable boobs.

"Kyeeeyaaaaah!" Toshimi cried in pain. It only got worse; Misuzu started to violently grope her chest, earning a small moan each time from her "friend".

"Ohhh! Stop it, Misuzu! Why did you become this-"

"WHY ARE THEY SO GODDAMN BIG!? Dammit! Every time I look at them it irritates me!"

I was ready to tear her off of Toshimi again before she let go and shoved her to the ground, panting for breath. Ryoyuki looked pissed as he gritted his teeth. Morita seemed taken aback, he actually seemed afraid of Misuzu's anger, backing away slightly.

"H-hey, Ichijo…. Isn't that a little…. Eheheheheheheheh…."

Misuzu, still angry, smiled a mad smile while scoffing. She soon undid the ribbon on her sailor uniform and tossed it aside. Quickly, though to me it appeared to be in slow motion, she opened her top and revealed a plain white bra. It was covering her chest, which as I said before, was hardly existent. At best, she was an A-cup, the smallest size of breasts. My eyes bulged out as did Morita's, but they quickly went back in when he saw just how _pathetic _Misuzu's chest was.

"That's seriously it?" Ryo's voice sounded angry, but it was probably more out boredom, due to his disinterest in girls his age.

This comment made Misuzu's eyes blaze with white-hot anger. She growled and grinded her teeth slightly before firing her nail gun at Ryo, grazing his cheek. Blood dripped down the wound, causing him to wipe it from his cheek. A startled Morita fell on his ass in horror, not that I blamed him. One of the girls on his "report" had completely gone crazy in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and he had to watch it unfold.

"Shut the fuck up!" She was practically seething now. "I'm sick and tired of you guys making fun of my boobs; especially you!" She pointed a finger at me.

"'They're too small', 'you're as flat as a billboard', etc. Well I've got news for you: I've wanted implants since middle school! But as you know, all of you know, WE JUST COULDN'T AFFORD IT! I always joked or talked around it whenever someone brought it up…"

Huffing, Misuzu glared at Toshimi in disgust, making the latter tremble in a mixture of sadness and fear. An insane smile now dominated Misuzu's face.

"I was holding back! For the time, I continued to be your 'best friend' so that eventually we'd both be back in the limelight. But after awhile, I saw that wasn't even physically possible anymore! And now, take a look around you!" Her arms spread as she pointed at the shiningen staggering around the campus. "Do you understand, Toshimi Niki? Since there's no chance of being 'normal' anymore, I'm done pretending! Normality is deader than dead!"

The brunette's crazed smile vanished from her face, replaced with a scowling expression of utter scorn.

"It's your entire damn fault, Niki! And now because of this shit, I'll never have my life back!"

Toshimi wasn't even trying to hold back her tears anymore. Then again, in contrast to her former friend, she was the gentle, sweet, and kind, though a little naïve at times. It's no wonder that she finally broke down.

"_Sniff_…that's…uugh…that's really cruel, Misuzu! Uugh…" She continued to cry while the three of us watched on.

Unlike the guys, I had been pretty quiet through Misuzu's rants, though mostly out of shock then actual anger. Could anyone really blame me? Practically everything I thought I knew about Misuzu Ichijo had turned out to be a lie. There was no way for me to process all of these revelations so quickly. That's to say, I wasn't given the chance. Soon Ryo sped-walked up to Misuzu and grabbed her by the collar of her sailor outfit, which was still exposing her nonexistent chest.

"What the fuck! I may have been pissed at you when you and Niki started hanging around Gojo, but compared to now…" He gritted his teeth in anger.

Misuzu returned a mocking expression, almost as if she wanted Ryo to strike her. This only angered him further; a deadly shine gleamed in his eyes. "How long? What the hell happened to you that made you such a bitch?"

"Nothing happened to me; I'm just really disappointed in you, Imamura." Ryo promptly slammed his fist hard into Misuzu's face, knocking her to the ground. Then he began stomping her hard in the stomach, making her spew saliva.

"Hey…" Morita uttered. He wore a deluded smile. "C'mon guys…you're all just screwing around…right?"

Seeing him out of his carefree personality was…disturbing. I saw that his jittery smile had degraded and now he was showing his teeth.

"Enough guys; just stop…" He said a little more loudly.

Ryo showed no signs of relenting and I showed no signs of moving to stop him, being too paralyzed by what was happening. In just a few hours, my whole life has been flipped upside down. How was I supposed to respond to all of this?

"I said stop!"

Morita put his hand on Ryoyuki's shoulder. The moment the latter turned to look at him, Morita connected his fist to his face, knocking him to the ground. Misuzu stepped back, surprised by the blonde-haired boy's violence.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people?" He screamed; it was the first time I'd ever seen the guy actually _pissed_ at someone. Sure, we'd see him get annoyed at Komuro and Takeda, but this time he was seething in actual anger.

"Jeez, could someone tell me what's going on here? First Kamigawa comes on the intercom and tells us to evacuate, then everyone turns into maniacs and start killing each other, and now Ichijo…"

He stuttered to get the words out, but nothing else was coherently said. Misuzu gave him a condensing look while a coy smile appeared, not unlike that of Miku Yuki's.

"Heh, look at you being so bold all the sudden! Why don't you just admit that all you are is a loser who spreads dumbass rumors about everything you hear? People who don't admit their faults are just total douches to me-"

"SHUT UP! Even losers can be useful!" He trailed off, tears starting to form. "I know I can…I know I-"

Just then we heard moaning coming from all sides around us. Morita's screaming had gotten us cornered.

_Jeez, it took a simple "shut up" to get their attention?_

I knew that all the commotion we were making was going to draw the shiningen in sometime soon. What I found hard to believe that it was the "shut up" alone that caused Them to turn their attention to us.

Morita nervously looked around. "Aw, shit! Sakakibara, I'm sorry! I didn't know that was gonna-"

"It wasn't your fault, Morita!" I cut him off as I got my bokken ready. "At least…not entirely…"

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Help me!"

"Someone, help!"

There were some voices calling over from where the lecture hall was. I looked over and saw a group of other students running for where we were. There were five of them, three guys and two girls.

The guy in the middle had black hair with dark green eyes. He was carrying a bat that he was using to bust down any shiningen that got in his way. The most unique feature was probably that he had a tan sports towel around his neck.

_Doesn't he realize that a shiningen could grab that and make easy work of him?_

The girl to the left of him had dark-blue hair, bluish grey eyes, and freckles on her face. Both sets of freckles were interestingly shaped into downwards triangles. She was still pretty cute, though.

As for the other girl, she was a red head with golden brown eyes. She didn't have any freckles and her chest was slightly bigger than the blue-haired girl.

The guy on the far right also had black hair, but it was messier than the boy with the towel, and he had light green eyes. To me, he didn't seem that unique, though his face was kind of gaunt for a teenager.

Finally there was the guy without a gakuran, exposing his white shirt. He had black hair, though it bordered on dark blue like the freckled girl's, turquoise-colored eyes, and a somewhat average face. He was the only other one in the group to be holding a weapon besides towel-boy. The weapon was a long silver pole with two prongs on the end, just like the one Uchiyamada-sensei was using before Tejima and Hayashi killed him.

"More survivors…" That brought everyone out of their own little worlds. They all turned to look at the five approaching us. I could tell that they were going to need help, so I ran over to help. But remembering that a circle of Them were enclosing us, I had to pluck them off first.

Straightening my arm behind me, I spread my legs out and kept my bokken ready. I had always wanted to try this out, after seeing the move in a certain video game series.

_Steady…steady…._

"GOJO!" Ryo shouted while beating down a shiningen with his bat. Morita was guarding Toshimi while Misuzu just lay on the ground not moving, her uniform still open.

_LET LOOSE!_

I released my twisted body and spun around rapidly, carefully making sure that I didn't hit any of my allies. One by one, I twisted and plowed through the shiningen, cutting their skulls clean through.

_Forgive me…_ I thought while I spun around and around. _Later I promise we'll come back and make graves for all of you…_

I couldn't help but notice that I was moving at a much faster speed then I wanted to. Maybe it was the intensity of the situation that caused it to make it look and feel that way.

Or so I thought…

Soon it became clear that I really _was_ moving that quickly. Not to brag, as I said before, but even _I_ wasn't _that_ good. Keeping track, and upon seeing that any immediate danger to my group was averted, I twisted around more slowly and lunged at the other group running towards us.

To my surprise, I was barreling towards them with devilling speed. Moving at such barreling speed I swung which caused the shiningen to roll all the way back and smash into one of the walls. Immediately, towel boy's group stopped in their tracks. Smirking for a brief moment, I screamed and leaped high in the air.

Incredibly high, unbelievably high; so high that I think that I was only just above the school rooftops. My surprise lasted only an instant as I felt the wind rushing towards me, pulling me down below. I didn't know why I felt no shock or fear at my plunging downwards; all I knew was that I had to save these other guys no matter what. We would need as many people as possible to escape Fujimi, after all.

With one huge swing, I brought my bokken down hard. The impact caused the pavement to crack and shatter all around, knocking a good number of the shiningen up and back down. Bone cracking echoed all around when the bodies hit the pavement. Undaunted by the sickening noise, I dashed behind the other group and began cutting through the undead. I was unstoppable; not flinching as I whirled like a tornado through the hoard of grey-skinned beasts.

Before I knew it, it was already over. Any immediate danger had been averted by my sword. Still, I was exhausted and fell on my legs. I needed to breathe now that the danger had been averted. The group I had saved looked in awe. Understandable; as they had no way of knowing what was going on or what had just transpired. Still panting, I looked up and saw their faces; mostly startled or afraid.

"Everyone…_pant…_everyone okay?" I managed to get out.

The boy in front nodded, albeit slowly. "Yeah…" He painted. "We're good."

"Good…_pant_...Just good."

Gathering around the six of us made our way back to my original group, who were just as dumbstruck as the strangers had been before. Misuzu was still on the ground, gritting her teeth in frustration. After glancing at her for a moment, I turned back to Ryoyuki and noticed the startled look on his face.

"Dude…" Morita managed to utter. "That was just…badass!"

My eyes widened, not sure how to take the compliment. I also felt my cheeks get a bit hot, no doubt from blushing. Now I've gotten a lot of praise for my exploits at the nationals, believe me, but for this it was just…weird. It shouldn't have felt the way it came off coming from Morita of all people, but still…

Trying to pull myself together, I turned to the five newbies I rescued.

"Thank you for rescuing us!" The midnight blue-haired girl bowed gratefully. "It was really looking bad!"

Nodding I said. "I'll take your word for it. Where are my manners? I'm-"

"Gojo Sakakibara of the kendo club; its vice-captain, right?" The towel boy cut me off.

"Yeah, I suppose you've heard about me."

Smiling, he added. "No offense man, but you're pretty famous around here." Blushing again I responded. "So I am."

It looked like all of us were calming down a bit. Misuzu was back on her feet and Toshimi, while still whimpering, was no longer bawling like before. The guys were also a bit more stable, no longer scared by the immediate danger surrounding them. Morita in particular seemed a bit brighter than before, which was a good sign.

"I know you! Aren't you the baseball team captain; Takuzo Shima?" Morita asked.

"That's right." The now named towel boy confirmed. "This is my girlfriend, Naomi Hasegawa." He gestured to the freckled girl who smiled. Naomi herself spoke up, turning to the redhead. "She's Momo Kawamoto, my best friend."

"Yo!" She gave the peace sign without changing her somewhat annoyed expression.

"I'm on the lacrosse team. My name's Wataru Shiroga." The big guy with the pole introduced himself, not looking too cheerful. Not that I'd blame him, of course.

The gaunt-face came up last. "Kenta Maruyama; I'm from class 2-C. Not a part of any club." Scratching the back of his head, Maruyama looked a bit ashamed that he couldn't think of something more impressive. I just nodded and decided to introduce my group.

"Okay. Well, I'm sure you've all at least heard of him." I gestured to the blonde boy. "From the music club, Natsuhiko Morita." With his trademark loser smile, Morita grinned. Pointing my thumb at Ryo I continued. "This is my best friend Ryoyuki Imamura. He's from the Ping-Pong club."

"'Sup!" My friend waved.

"The girls here are Toshimi Niki form the archery club, as well as Misuzu Ichijo, her friend."

Smiling, Shima extended his hand. "Nice to meet you!" We shook before hearing Misuzu scoff. After all that crap she spouted earlier, it looked like she still had more to say. Gulping, I braced myself for the worst outcome.

"Why's everyone acting so nice all of a sudden?" She stuttered. "Or have you forgotten completely that we're at the shiningens' mercy?" After getting are attention she began. "We've got no way to leave, our families are probably as good as dead, and than you go and play the hero." Pointing a finger at me, as well as the five I just rescued, she continued to rant. "You're not fucking Superman, you know! It's not like you can save everyone in the world!"

Everyone just looked at her like she had grown another head. Groaning in annoyance, I finally decided to call her out on her unacceptable behavior. At this point I couldn't care less about how she betrayed her soul sister; I just wanted her to shut up.

"Misuzu, this is hard on everyone here. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop acting so selfishly-"

"QUIT FUCKING PREACHING TO ME! ADMIT THAT YOU"RE JUST AS SCARED AS THE REST OF US AND THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW! I SWEAR I HATE YOU WHEN YOU'RE LIKE THIS, LIKE YOU'VE GOT ALL THE ANSWERS WHEN TRUTH IS YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT!"

Gritting my teeth, I walked over to her, handing my bokken to Ryo. It was time to lay down the law for all to see.

"On top of that-" She never finished that statement before my fist connected to her stomach. Out of breath from shock she fell to her knees and was holding her stomach, trying to breathe. The others all gasped at what I had done, but I didn't really care. I had to put my foot down at some point and figured this was good a time as any.

"Misuzu…" I said as she looked up at me fearfully. It scared _me_ that I was changing the way I was, but this needed to be done. "Why are you this way? The only thing you're accomplishing is making others feel sad!"

My words seemed to have an impact as Misuzu just stared at me, trembling. Obviously she feared that Toshimi's original fate would be her own soon, and quickly. Looking down she stared at her hands, whimpering little noises. My expression softened as I saw this. What had I-

"My hands…" Misuzu said in a broken voice. "Oh god, they got so bloody! I'll have get them washed at some point, huh?" Toshimi gulped. She couldn't bear to see her best friend like this but at the same time couldn't bring herself to get near her after the beating she received. Sighing, I knelt down beside her and pulled her into a hug. I heard her stop whimpering after the fact.

"D-don't…d-don't…" She tried to get out, but than said something with tears coming down.

"Don't…let me go." She sobbed. "Oh god, I'm an idiot! Please, Gojo, don't ever let me go! I'm…I'm sorry!" Burying her face into my shoulder Misuzu Ichijo wept, now able to get the pressure off of her back.

The others didn't say anything, but I'm sure it was a mix of anger, pity, sorrow, confusion, and several other things amongst them.

_How ironic…It takes the world ending just to get close to the girl you love? If so, what a fucking joke…_

Misuzu had stopped crying and stood up, now ready for some more moving. But looking around, I noticed that the shiningen we're beginning to congregate again. There was no way we'd make it to the faculty room at this rate. Looking behind me, however, I noticed that we were just feet away from the gymnasium.

And from the looks of it, it seemed relatively untouched compared to the rest of the school. Maybe for now…

As if reading my mind, Ryo spoke up. "Gojo, you think maybe we could go in there until…They thin out?" He pointed to the corpses walking closer to us. I nodded. "Good idea."

With that, all ten of us entered the gym and made sure that the shiningen couldn't get in. To our relief there was none of them inside the building, though I had to imagine that someone at some point in time had earlier given the fact that the equipment closest had been left open. Probably Komuro or heck maybe the guys I just bailed. Though considering where they came from I quickly dismissed that idea.

Me and the lacrosse guy Shiroga got some chairs and various other equipment to block the doorways. Thankfully, no zombies decided to pay us a visit so we decided to unwind a bit after the fact. Besides…

Looking up at the TV, I thought to myself. _Maybe now we can get a clue_.

That could wait a few minutes, however.

Misuzu walked towards the washroom to clean up, Imamura was chatting with Morita, Maruyama, and Takuzo about something while Toshimi sat in the corner by her lonesome, though she thankfully wasn't crying this time. Hasegawa and Kawamoto came up to Shiroga and myself, both not looking happy. Noting their uneasiness I stated simply:

"Let's just all take a break for now."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Hey. My hiatus ended quicker than I thought. I know it's been a while since I you last heard from this fic. For a while I admittedly had lost interest in HOTD. But this past X-Mas break got me thinking and thus the spark was rekindled. It's been three years but better late then never. Next chapter will be something a little different. Look forward to it!

Before Gojo's story goes any further, it is important to document the rest of the surviving students perils. Next time: Spring of the Dead: B-Track.


	5. Chapter 4: Spring of the Dead: B-Track

**Author's Note:**

Thank you for the patience. Thus we continue with another chapter! Takashi Komuro has lost out on the love of his life and can't get over it. Upon witnessing a horror at the front gate of his school, he bails to get his ex, Rei Miyamoto, to safety. In the meantime, a long lost relative of the Busujima clan is about to start his inauguration into Fujimi Academy when he sees the same terror. Also, the plot of an evil man begins to develop amongst all the chaos! All in all, a very gruesome and mysterious ride!

**Disclaimer:**

I own nothing of the HOTD series or its characters or plot points. A good chunk of this chapter's plot points are borrowed from the manga and anime, of which are owned by Daisuke and Shoji Sato and MADHOUSE Studios. The only thing I do own is the overall story that _I_ am telling with those elements. I also do _not_ own the characters Ryu or Sarah; I give full credibility to Nariek Hyokame and his fanfic "Highschool of the Dead: Ryu's Story" for them. I must also cite Mr Wang 330 and his HOTD fic "Fallen Angels". It details and expands on the journey from the viewpoints of one of Shido's followers, which I borrowed to help frame the scale of this fic. That aside, we begin. Be sure to review and comment!

* * *

><p><span><strong>Dead Scars<strong>

**Chapter 1 Side B: Spring of the Dead: B-Track**

"_On the day that everything came to an end…I killed my best friend, and held the girl I loved for the first time."_

_Takashi Komuro's words still echo in my head to this day. If only I had known the true pain he had suffered until that point; and thus the new suffering he had found to replace it._

_Something that has always been in the back of my head has been that while you're living in the reality that you consider your world, there are hundreds upon thousands upon millions of others going around at the same time. Time never stops even when you want it, so what other people experience may in fact be very different from what you experience. Or by some odd stretch of coincidence…may be almost exactly the same._

_The point I'm making with this is that while my group went through hell trying to get out, many others like Komuro had their own troubles to deal with. Much more went on in this school than what I had to deal with, so it's important to understand the full grasp of the fear, change, and desperation we all went through by reviewing other individuals' tales as well. Most of this what I've heard from the others after the fact, but I've heard enough details to put two and two together._

_I can't imagine what Ko and the others felt during those first few hours. Like myself, however, I do know what they basically felt:_

_Stark terror…_

* * *

><p>It was 11:50 PM in Tokonosu, Japan; a lovely Spring day with the sun shining and birds chirping. A particularly lovely sight were the cherry blossom trees that hung in the courtyards of Fujimi Academy, a private school that was one of the prefecture's most prestigious and renowned.<p>

On this particular day, however, a single male student was standing on a staircase overlooking the campus. He had spiky brownish-black hair and brown eyes that of which reflected a deep sorrow. An interesting change of pace for him was that this was the first time since being inaugurated into Fujimi that he wore his gakuran jacket fully buttoned; as if in mourning something. Or someone…

Takashi Komuro, 17 and sophomore of Class 2-B, watched the sakura petals flutter about. He was admittedly surprised that the wind was able to blow them all the way to where he was, given that the trees were quite the distance away, but that didn't distract him from his thoughts. Thoughts filled of broken dreams and promises were pervading his mind, especially of that one person.

* * *

><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

"_You know we're going to get married, right Takashi-chan?"_

_The ten year-old girl, Rei Miyamoto, cutely smiled at her dear friend Takashi, whose families had known each other for years. It was sunset at a playground they used to play at all the time when they were young._

"_Really?" Takashi asked in disbelief. "Do you really mean it?" He wanted to make sure this wasn't a dream._

"_Mm-hmm! Pinky promise!" Rei held her pinky out and locked it with Takashi's. It would be a blood promise; one that would have to be honored no matter what._

"_Wow!" The now grinning boy exclaimed. "I can't wait!"_

_The images cut to about six or seven years later; inside the hallways of Fujimi Academy, both having worked hard to get there. Rei was now 17 and had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her bronze hair flowed nicely down to her middle back and on top of her head were two long strands that Takashi lovingly dubbed her antennas, much to her annoyance._

_This was no happy occasion, however, as Rei had revealed a shocking piece of news to her future to be._

"_Why do you have to repeat the grade?" Asked Takashi. "Aren't you a straight-A student?"_

_Rei just glanced at the ground, trying to hold back her tears. They weren't of sadness, but of frustration. It was always the same thing with Takashi. Sighing she turned and started walking away._

"_You wouldn't understand, Takashi." Doing her hardest not to choke up she uttered something Takashi barely registered. "You just…don't get it…"_

_The next image was of Takashi's best friend, Hisashi Igo. He had been a good friend of the former's ever since junior high at Koshiba Middle School. Some 7th graders were dunking Takashi's head in the toilet when Hisashi pulled them off and stood up for him, and the two became best friends ever since. Popular with girls and very athletic, Takashi felt a little overshadowed by the gray-hair but still cared for him like a brother. Upon enrolling at Fujimi Hisashi joined the karate club and gained even more popularity. Even so, the gray-haired boy never acted snobby or rubbed it in people's faces and was considered by many to have the brightest future after the academy._

_Hisashi was sitting at a desk with a smile before turning to his longtime friend._

"_I guess we're in the same class again this year, huh? Let's make it a good one."_

_Takashi hesitated a bit before replying. "Right."_

_Once again the images changed, now showing Takashi lurking behind a tree. He had been following Rei ever since the bell let out. Much to his shock, she had met up with Hisashi and was talking very intimately with him, all while holding his hand._

_**I can't believe this! For how long has-**_

_His thoughts were cut off when Rei glanced in his direction. By instinct he quickly hid himself from view. Whether or not Rei had seen him was unknown as she quickly went back to talking with Hisashi, her NEW boyfriend._

_For one last time the images changed. It was now the next day, which was a Saturday and which also meant that classes got out earlier than usual. Takashi had once again followed his friends to an intersection of the road; where the Tokonosu train line ran through. As the train was about to pass through, Takashi caught a glimpse of the girl he loved and his soul brother hitting it up, affectionately smiling. Two other unimportant men stood by their sides, unsurprisingly paying no heed._

_While Hisashi didn't notice his presence, Rei looked over in Takashi's direction, no doubt seeing him this time. She frowned sadly and looked away, with the passing train finally blocking her ex from sight. Hisashi looked at her to see what was wrong, but Rei just shrugged it off. She knew that it was impossible now._

_**No going back…**_

* * *

><p>(The Present)<p>

Finally, the images ceased, like an old projector that had finished rolling a movie. Takashi couldn't believe how fast all that went; all those promises and hopes had been thrown away in an instant. What did he have to work for in this life now? He couldn't think of an answer.

Of course, he didn't _hate_ Rei. How could he hate someone he spent almost his entire life loving? Hisashi on the other hand…He was his best friend in ways that the others like Morita couldn't even begin to become, and gave him confidence whenever he was feeling down and whenever he needed it the most. But now…

_But now he's with Rei…MY girl…?_

It was then that the brown-haired student remembered the darker side to the pinkie promise they had made. He remembered exactly how the folksong went.

"Pinky promise…if you lie, I'll make you swallow 1,000 needles…"

Uttering it, Takashi soon realized how cheesy and ridiculous it sounded. He should've known better; a childhood promise meant to be taken seriously, by a daughter of a public safety inspector? In her high school years, no less? Yeah, right…

"That's so stupid!" A female voice said.

"Huh?"

Looking to the side, he noticed someone looking down on him. It was a pink-haired girl with orange eyes and a condescending look on her face. Her hair was primarily in two ponytails on both sides of her head. It also came down in two smaller bangs on the sides and had three longer and slender ones protruding from the left side of her head. The right side had a spiky and thicker portion covering the skin. Takashi was not happy with her being there.

"Oh its just you." He coolly replied. "What do you want?"

The pinkette stepped closer with her hands on her hips before speaking. "Every time you have to face something you don't like, you always come to this _stupid _staircase and mope! It is _so_ elementary! The first semester's barely begun and you're already slacking off!" She got even closer until she leaned forward and gazed up at him.

"You'd better start preparing for summer school or at least for taking additional classes, otherwise you're gonna be held back!"

Gazing down, Takashi could see the barest parts of her rather large chest, which made him uncomfortable. Morita wasn't kidding about what he was saying about her tits. Turning away, he gazed out towards the building that contained the teachers' offices. On top of which sat an observatory, which the astronomy club used, though technically anyone was allowed access as long as no one abused the rules and privileges set by the faculty.

"I could say the same thing about you." He sounded bored. "5th period's not even over yet."

Closing her eyes and smirking, the girl retorted. "That's okay because _I'm_ _a genius_, unlike you, who only got into this school by dumb luck!"

Takashi groaned. He hated when she started talking like this. It wasn't true! He worked hard to get into the same school as his friends; even if ultimately didn't amount to anything. Of course he wasn't just going to be bullied without knowing why.

"Takagi," He asked. "Why do you always gotta dis me like this?"

One of the five great prodigies of Fujimi, Saya Takagi, folded her arms and replied simply with a deadpan look.

"Because I don't like stupid people."

_Of course, like always…_ Takashi thought to himself.

"Especially people who _can't or_ _don't want to admit_ that they're stupid." Takagi went on. "I mean, you _are_ stupid, but at least you _know_ you are. So maybe if I keep _telling_ you you're stupid, by some miracle you'll be _less_ stupid, _stupid_!"

Scoffing, Takashi had heard enough of the girl's ranting. Who cares about if you're smart or stupid? As long as you're honest about who you are, that's all that counts, right? Of course, he'd most likely never hear the end of it if he had said that to Takagi, so he just turned away and looked over the stairwell.

"You mind leaving? I prefer to brood without smartasses preaching to me!"

Takagi, shocked that her longtime friend spoke so coldly to her, twitched irritably before shaking her head. As she turned she got in some more.

"I swear to god, acting all cool and detached, just because your childhood sweetheart dumped you?" She knew it was a rhetorical question, but still she couldn't help it. "Stupid." With that she headed off, leaving Takashi to battle his demons.

_Stupid? Like she even knows how I feel…the bitch…_

Soon his mind began to wonder again, to the day after seeing Rei with Hisashi at the crossroads.

* * *

><p><em>(Flashback)<em>

_Takashi was in a classroom, after calling Rei to have a talk about Hisashi. However, Rei only managed to slide the door open slightly before backing off and staying in the hallway. The two just beat it around the bush for about ten minutes before Takashi got to the point. After hearing him out, Rei sighed pitifully._

"_Takashi…it's just…" She trailed off for a bit before continuing. "There was I time when I did truly feel that way…but you never seemed to notice, so…"_

_Trailing off again, Rei never finished her sentence before strolling off. Takashi stood up from his seat and watched her go. He was half tempted to go after her, but ultimately decided that it was pointless. As he got his things together he wondered exactly what he thought it the present…_

* * *

><p>(The Present)<p>

"So? So what?" That was indeed the question.

As Takagi walked back to class, she barely noticed a very different male student pass her by. He hair was blonde and spiky in the middle and his light green eyes reflected an endless enthusiasm for everything musical and girls. He wore his jacket open, which exposed a green-checkered sweatshirt, with the collar bent down for good measure. Seeing the genius stroll by he turned and grinned a bit.

"Hey there, Takagi!"

"Hmph!"

Scoffing, she just kept walking without looking at him. Staring after her, the blondie clenched his fist while murmuring, now having lost his smile.

"Man…that's strike number four!" He ruefully counted the number of times he tried to ask her out.

Turning back the other way, he looked up and saw a familiar face. Takashi was slumped out on the rail overlooking the campus. Never being one to pass up the opportunity to share or hear a good story, he regained his cheerful demeanor and called out.

"Yo, Komuro! Skipping class as usual?"

Natsuhiko Morita approached Takashi as the latter turned to his friend, yawning.

"Morita." He uttered before scratching his head. "You too? I didn't really get much sleep last night after we all signed off. Besides class is such a bore." The other night, the two of them, along with Hisashi, had been playing online games; zombie killing games to be precise. At first it was just he and Morita, but than Hisashi suddenly piped in and Takashi, against his better judgment, allowed him to come on. Sometimes he was such a doormat to the others. It wasn't until 4:00 AM that he finally fell asleep.

"Tell me about it!" Morita exclaimed and joined his friend, leaning over the metal bars. "It's a miracle no one's died yet it's so dull."

Deciding to play a bit, Takashi gave his most cold glare and craziest smirk.

"How do you know no one's gonna?" He teased.

His eyes widening, Morita almost immediately got the joke and snickered. "Don't go jinxing anyone now!" Laughing a bit the boys just stared out at the sakura petals before the blonde boy resumed.

"So what'd Takagi want? The usual "stupid" speech like usual? Man, you're lucky that she even _talks_ to you; I can't seem to get anywhere with her! That plus the fact that Toshio got a night with _the_ Miku Yuki last week! Isn't that crazy?"

"Mind-blowing." Takashi coolly replied. Morita didn't stop his talk.

"Say, I've noticed that you've been buttoning up a lot these days. That ain't like you."

Narrowing his eyes, Takashi frowned. He knew where his friend was going and didn't want to talk about it. "What's it to ya? I just felt like a change recently."

"I hear ya, but…" Morita replied. "From where I'm standing, it almost seems like you're in mourning."

Smirking sadly, Takashi poked fun at his friend again.

"Or anticipating something tragic?"

"There you go again with the jinxing!" Morita laughed. His eyes growing more serious, he turned to the campus. "Of course, I've been hearing some things, like about how you got dumped."

His tone was less cheerful than usual, but it still irritated Takashi that it was being brought up at all. Then again, whenever Morita got hold of a rumor, there was no stopping it from spreading. Though most were harmless for what they were, it didn't stop the occasional annoyance from slipping through. Such as the case with this, and as Takagi had demonstrated earlier, Morita wasn't the first.

"Anyways," Morita continued. "Rumor has it that your childhood girlfriend ended up in the same class as you when she stayed back a year." He paused briefly. "Aaaand that Igo, also in the same class, is going out with her now, right?"

It was already out there, no point in trying to keep on the down low now. Takashi resigned himself with his next statement.

"Hisashi…He's the one that Rei chose." He tried to make it sound as factual as possible.

"Besides, that stuff's nothing but a hassle. I mean, Igo's a great guy; good looking, great at sports, and he's smart."

Looking down at the ground, he added. "It only makes sense, right?"

"Well…I mean…putting it like _that_…"

For once Natsuhiko Morita couldn't think of anything to say. Never did he think that Takashi would be so adamant about letting go of his girl, especially after getting all depressed about it weeks ago. He hadn't tried to ask anyone else out in the meantime, so why was he acting like it didn't bother him?

Apparently Takashi noticed his friend's confused look and decided to lighten the mood. "I jinxing again?" He jokingly asked.

"Huh? Oh, that! Nah, it's just like you said: a hassle!"

Smiling, Takashi saw Morita stretching and yawning before wiping a tear from his eye. "Whelp, I'm gonna try and sneak back to the dorms! You?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Hang around for a bit, than maybe go to the roof for a couple of zzzs. I'll see you around, man."

"See ya!" Morita gave one final wave before walking off, not looking back at Takashi.

Turning back to the oversight, the black-haired boy sighed, just gazing into the open air. He still couldn't believe all the petals blowing past here. The sight of it alone could've made him forget if not for those talks with Morita and Takagi. Who were _they_ to judge?

A few weeks ago he remembered what his classmate Sakakibara said, after an _interesting_ discussion on the school rooftops.

_Don't let this ruin your life! There are plenty of girls around here to meet and get to know._

_I know what he said, but…_ Thought the sophomore. _…I don't want anyone else. The one who I want is…_

The image of Rei and Hisashi together flashed again. That damn picture; he just wanted it to vanish from his memory. It took every ounce of his willpower not to cry. Closing his eyes, Takashi knew that it was probably too late. He had plenty of chances to make his move, but the hassles of real life made him miss every one of them. Yet even now…

"You just…can't forget…" Takashi uttered as he felt the full weight of his tragic loss.

* * *

><p>On the roof of the faculty building, across from the lecture hall and unbeknownst to Takashi, just at the front of the observatory, another spike-haired teenager looked down at the campus. It was grander than any of the brochures he read; beautiful sakura trees, a wide campus, several renowned clubs to choose from (kendo included), and the added benefit of finally getting back to his home country of Japan.<p>

Sighing, the memories of his childhood began to come back: about how he was kicked out of his country in the first place.

* * *

><p><em>(Flashback; 10 years prior)<em>

_A purple-haired girl of only eight years was panting desperately for breath, her father frantically checking to make sure she was okay. When he saw there was no permanent damage he turned to a dark blue-haired boy whom he had thrown off of her. He was furious at his son, doing this to his elder sister._

"_Why?" The man furiously demanded. "Why did you use lethal force?"_

"_I- I-" Blue-hair was struggling to answer and had not calmed down yet from what he had done. There was no excuse for his actions, or rather; he couldn't figure it out himself._

_With no answer being given, the towering man narrowed his sky-blue eyes and advanced on his son, determined to punish him. He was halfway to the child when suddenly the girl threw herself between her brother and father with her arms stretched out._

"_Forgive him, father!" She pleaded. "It was I who asked him to go all out. I am responsible for this!"_

_The moment she finished her father's gaze softened considerably. He could obviously tell she was covering for her brother, but all the same, he couldn't bring himself to go through with his punishment; at least not in front of her._

_Sighing he said: "Be that as it may, it is no excuse for what he has done." Glaring at the boy menacingly, he growled. "This is the seventh time this month he has stepped out of line! That being the case, I've decided that he will be going to live at your uncle's in New Zealand first thing tomorrow…to teach him proper control, as well as respect."_

_Trembling, the boy did nothing as his father walked off, stating one more thing._

"_You have this evening to say your farewells. Good night."_

_The image changed to the boy trembling in front of his sister, nearly crying about what he had done. "You-you fear me sister!" He got out. "I had this feeling that…that…it told me to…to KILL!"_

* * *

><p>(The Present)<p>

His remembrance over, Ryu Busujima looked to the sky and took in a deep breath. No sense in regretting a past he couldn't change. His midnight blue hair and yellow eyes were a trait that had passed on from his mother, Aya, who had passed away after giving birth to him. He figured that was part of the reason that Zabuza, his father, always treated him so poorly. Other reasons ranged from mouthing off in general to the incident mentioned in his memories.

The one memory where he had almost killed his elder sister: Saeko Busujima.

_Wonder what you're up to these days, sis…_

Upon graduating from his first high school year in New Zealand, Ryu decided it was time to return to his home and confront his father over his banishment. Having excellent grades, though not up to par with his sister's, he was easily able to apply for a private school in his hometown of Tokonosu City. It was the first step in order to show his parent that he was not a random failure to cast aside. His uncle, Shiro, was very proud and offered to pay Ryu's tuitions. With that, the plan was well underway…

That is, until, the day after arriving at his former home, one of the clan's retainers told Ryu that Zabuza was away at a dojo overseas, and wouldn't be home until next month. His sister, on the other hand, was living in the dorms at her high school, so no one was there to greet him. The most outrageous part was that the servant had told him he to be not granted any entry to the family estate, and that arrangements had been made for him to live in the dorms at Fujimi. And thus, a wrench was thrown into his grand scheme; his father had made it clear that he was not welcome back.

Taking his time to explore the campus, Ryu had found it very awesome and couldn't wait for his orientation to begin. His teacher was to meet him in the faculty building at 1:00 PM, and it was only 12:13, so he still had some time. Looking over towards the lecture hall, he noticed the black-haired boy a few feet down staring at something. He had seen him earlier while walking the campus, but didn't exchange any words with him. He found it odd though that a student was just wandering around when classes were still in session. Then again, it wasn't really anything he was absolutely interested in. Wearing the schools white dress shirt un-tucked, as he had found the gakuran too confining, Ryu stretched and just kept waiting.

Yes indeed, it was going to be a whole new chapter in Ryu's life; it was supposed to be a brand new beginning.

**All the more a pity, that the so-called new beginning was just a cover for the start of the end.**

_Clank_

"Hmm?"

Just then, both boys looked over to their left and right respectively, trying to see what was the cause of the noise was.

Upon looking at the front gate, they saw a person who appeared to be banging into it. Being further away, Ryu couldn't make it out too well, but Takashi was closer and could tell what was going on.

"What's that?" He asked confusedly. "A trespasser?"

Down at the front, the stranger kept clanging into the gate with no signs of stopping. His rhythm kept going even when a quartet of teachers came up to him.

The first of the teachers, Kyoko Hayashi, adjusted her glasses before speaking.

"Excuse me, sir, but what do you think you're doing? And who are you?" She asked sternly. The man in question gave no sign that he heard her and kept hitting the gate, as if to bring it down on strength alone.

"I'll have you know that this is a private academy! Stop this behavior at once!" The karate club teacher, Seita Tejima, turned and couldn't help but smirk at his coworker. The truth was that Hayashi and he had been seeing each other outside of work, and he rather liked it when she got all commanding.

Suddenly, the vagrant ceased his bashing and just stood there, staring blankly at the P.E. teachers. Go Kamigawa, assistant judo coach, started to grow nervous; just who was this intruder?

Hayashi was slowly starting to lose her patience. Craning her neck, she stated: "Did you hear me? Leave at once before I call the police!" No sooner did she finish her sentence that the man on the other side let loose a small yet still audible moan, which unnerved all the instructors. Except for Tejima, that is.

Holding an arm out in front of the Ping-Pong club's advisor, Tejima gave her a reassuring smile and wink before walking up to the gate, making her blush slightly.

"Its alright, Hayashi-sensei." Pulling his left sleeve up, he faced the intruder. "There's no need to call anyone. I'll handle this!"

Upon reaching the gate, Tejima put his left arm through the bars and grabbed the stranger by his shirt, pulling him in and smashing him into the gate.

"Now listen here!" He shouted.

The others were taken aback by this act. "H-hey now!" Kamigawa exclaimed.

"Tejima-sensei!" Hayashi complained. "Please don't resort to violence!"

"Yeah, but…" Tejima was about to counter before he noticed something was off. First thing, this guy had to have been pretty damn strong, evidenced by the fact that it took all of the teacher's strength just to hold him up. Also, now that he got a better look at the man, he noticed that the intruder's skin was a deathly gray, as if he was unwell. Not to mention…

As if responding to the change in atmosphere, the restrained man slowly opened his mouth whilst making a disturbing moan. Out of his gapping maw fell a few cylinder-shaped objects on the pavement, near Tejima's shoe. The female leaned in to see what they were before suddenly paling.

Looking at the objects, Tejima looked blankly before coming to a realization. "What the fuck?" His eyes widened. "ARE THOSE FINGERS?"

"EEEEEEKKKK!" Hayashi stumbled back and fell on her ass. "POLICE!" She hollered.

"What the hell?" Kamigawa exclaimed. The fourth teacher and lacrosse team supervisor, Joji Uchiyamada, dropped his jaw slightly and readied his pole for defense. So panicked were the four that they never saw two students on a nearby patch of grass, witnessing everything that was happening.

With the teacher's guard relaxed, flesh eater's solemn expression became crazed, breaking away from his grasp. He than grasped Tejima's arm and bit into it, blood gushing out with intensity.

"AUGH!" Tejima was taken aback by the man's hostility, instinctively pulling away. As he did so the gray-skinned man tore a chunk of flesh from his arm, turning away to chew on it. The karate teacher lost his balance and fell to the ground, screaming his head off as he flailed around.

Watching from a distance, Ryu could hardly believe what he was seeing. Since when does blood spill on the ground in Japan _these_ days? Takashi was even more speechless, barely hearing the teachers' voices as they tried to help their fallen man. Gripping the bar tightly, he turned white at what happened next. Tejima convulsed one last time before ceasing all movement; his tongue sticking out.

Uchiyamada, while obviously horrified, was also rather confused. How does someone die from such a wound?

"Oh my god, he's dead!" He exclaimed, gripping his metal pole tightly.

"But, that's impossible." Hayashi whimpered. "It was just a bite on the arm! That alone shouldn't have-" She couldn't finish before breaking down and sobbing over the corpse of her lover. Why did this have to happen, to Seita of all people? She couldn't bear it if-

Wait, what?

Out of the corner of her eye, the redhead saw Tejima's unbitten arm twitch slightly. Was he still-?

"Tejima-sensei?" She asked, now smiling hopefully. "Are you alright?"

His eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice, glaring straight up at her. But this wasn't a look of thankfulness or relief; it was of pure instinct and one desire: hunger. Hayashi was too relieved to pay any mind though.

**Big mistake…**

"Oh, Tejima-sensei, thank god! For a moment there I thought you had-"

With those very words, the reanimated Tejima reached up, grabbed Hayashi by her vest collar, and pulled her in before she knew what was happening, biting deeply into her neck.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed as blood splattered the concrete, getting some on the remaining teachers as well. With his newfound strength, the male teacher forced her to the ground, gnawing on her slender throat. Both students from atop the buildings reeled in horror, backing away from their respective railings. The remaining two teachers either fell down at the terror or ran away to the faculty building.

Ryu was already running down into the building, hoping to get off the school grounds. Takashi, however, was still processing what he just saw down below.

"Wha…what the hell just happened…?"

But soon another thing crossed his mind. He didn't know why, he didn't know what, but somehow he just knew…He knew that he had to do something!

Wasting no more time, Takashi bolted away from the stairway balcony and ran up the stairs to the second floor, dashing down the hall. The adrenaline kept him going before he skidded to a stop in front of his homeroom. Class 2-B.

Sliding the door open, he was grateful that he didn't have to look around for her. Rei was sitting right at the end of the last row of desks in the classroom, instantly turning his way. Unfortunately his sudden arrival received a lot of attention from the other classmates, as well as his teacher.

"Komuro!" The sensei asked incredulously. "It's one thing to skip my lessons but now you're interrupting them?"

Ignoring the teacher's complaints, the boy stomped over to Rei's desk and forcefully lifted her up by the arm.

"Come with me." He demanded curtly. "We're getting out of here!"

"Huh? Why?" She asked incredulously.

"It doesn't matter; just come!"

"I'm in the middle of class here!"

Takagi got up from her seat, pissed that her childhood friend was being such a poor sport. Was his depression seriously making him go so far? "What the hell is your _problem_, Komuro?" She shouted.

Hisashi also got up, more curious than upset at his best friend's behavior, though he didn't think it right that he was being so rough with Rei. A slightly overweight boy with thick glasses and a bored expression had caught slight interest in the event, but the bullying he had suffered last period caused him not to think much of it. The commotion among the other students in the room had risen, mostly to make fun of Takashi for his sudden demanding of his ex-girlfriend, who they knew had already dumped him.

"Haha!" Laughed one of the boys. "What's his problem?"

"Probably lost his mind!" A girl shrugged sarcastically.

"Not likely. Just his effed up way of asking her out!" Another guy grinned.

"Talk about bossy! Doesn't he remember that she's Igo's girl now? What a loser!"

"Takashi," Hisashi said after walking up behind his friend. "What's this all about?"

The black-haired boy sighed. He hadn't wanted to involve Hisashi at all, but now he had no choice. He'd probably come in use anyway. Ultimately friendship won out over common sense and he leant over, making sure that no one else could hear him talk.

"A couple of people were killed at the front gate; it's real bad!"

His eyes widening slightly, the gray-haired boy looked Takashi in his own eyes. He'd never seen such fear in him before. "Seriously?"

"What would I gain by lying about something like that?" Takashi argued.

"Jeez, what is with you?" Rei had grown tired and tore her arm from her ex-lover's grasp. "I can never understand what's going on in your head!"

Glaring daggers at him, Rei tried to get him to leave, but the drifter had no time for her ramblings. They needed to get out of there, and quickly.

"Until you give me a good reason why, I'm-"

_SLAP!_

In one swift stroke Takashi struck his childhood friend across her face, shutting everyone up. Hisashi couldn't believe his eyes. He'd gone too far! Rei held her swollen cheek before her friend started shouting.

"Cut it out…" He growled. "Just listen to me!" Turning to his other friend, Takashi wanted to make it clear that he was telling the truth.

Hisashi looked a bit startled at first, but his expression quickly softened into something more calm. He knew there was no way Takashi was lying, or at the very least not about the seriousness of the situation; not after knowing him for so long. If it was true…

Calming down his girlfriend, Hisashi turned to his instructor.

"If you'll excuse us, sensei." He bowed politely. "C'mon Rei."

"What?" The teacher shouted after them. "Not you too, Igo!"

* * *

><p>Back in the faculty building, Ryu was running down the staircases as fast as his legs could carry him. The images of the carnage at the entrance were fresh in his mind; no way was he dying his first day back!<p>

He suddenly remembered passing the kendo club's dojo on the way here; surely that meant there was something he could use to protect himself. As he ran he thought he heard another's footsteps approaching but he put it off as nothing. That was until the owner of the footsteps suddenly came into view as Ryu neared the ground. Bursting through the front door was a gym teacher with black hair and wearing a blue coach uniform, the panic on his face high. Ryu barely had time to make it to the bottom when the teacher rather rudely pushed passed him on his way up.

"Hey, jackass!" Ryu hollered after him. "You mind watching yourself?" The teacher paid him no mind and kept running up the stairs. Putting two and two together, the Busujima figured that the man was one of the surviving teachers and that he was going to notify the faculty about.

_Like it'd do any good._

At the bottom lay all of the lockers that students used for storing their belongings and equipment when not in use. Ryu was surprised at how expansive it was; just how many people excluding him were attending this school?

It was than that Ryu gazed outside the glass doors. He paled. The male teacher and female teachers from the gate were approaching the entrance as well as the old man who was holding the pole, though he now lacked it. Their skin was a deathly shade of gray and their pupils were shrunken like pinpoints, with nothing reflected in them. The worse part were the moans they emitted, like the kind you make while in bed with a hot babe.

Ryu gasped in horror; it wasn't just the three teachers; in the distance behind them he could make out a dozen or so other figures. They were all limping around and heading towards the various buildings, a few of which even shuffling over here. Their numbers unnerved him more than he wanted to admit.

_How'd they spread so quickly? _He thought. _Probably more from outside, and if they came from outside, that can only mean…_

"It's happening elsewhere too." Ryu whispered.

Just than his ears perked up. He turned down the hallway and thought he saw a figure close the door at the far end. Narrowing his eyes, he turned back and noticed that the teachers we're beginning to close the distance. Before he knew it, Ryu was dashing towards the other door, hoping to put some space between them. In no time at all he had made it to the door and was about to open it when he noticed the sign.

It was a girl's locker room sign.

"Christ." Taking a deep breath, Ryu knocked. "Hello? Is someone there?"

There was a gasp before a voice replied. "W-who's there?" Female and very afraid; whoever it was must have seen what went on outside. What struck Ryu was that the person had a peculiar accent, most certainly not Asian, let alone Japanese. A transfer student perhaps?

"You'd better not stick around in there." Ryu continued. "Trust me, there's-"

"Uuugh…"

Whirling around he noticed the female teacher was just stumbling through the glass frames of the doors, shattering them. Her male counterpart followed, slouching near a desk close by.

"On second thought, could I please come in?" Asked Ryu.

The female started to whimper. "It's Tejima-sensei, isn't it? Is he coming?"

With that, the now named Tejima, wearing his blue high-collar shirt turned towards Ryu's direction, his eyes hungrily placed on him. He started slowly making his way towards the hall way and Ryu, who began to show fear. Without a weapon he had no chance.

"Now he is. Aw, fuck it." He quickly opened the door and slammed it shut after heading inside. He winced slightly, remembering something.

_Wait a minute…when she called out, that guy suddenly changed course, it's like he only came towards once he…_

**Heard her…**

Ryu made a quick note before realizing that that Tejima-sensei fellow's moaning was getting closer. There was a medium-sized bench in one of the corners that he quickly went over to, flipping it upside down. Closing his eyes, he slid the bench until the a set of legs were under the door handle. Praying that it would hold, Ryu turned and finally laid eyes on the girl from before, huddling in a different corner.

Her light blond hair was tied in a long ponytail on top her head and she was wearing the sailor uniform of the school, and while Ryu couldn't see her face that clearly, her skin tone confirmed for him what he suspected earlier. _Definitely not Asian…_

He made his way over to her, being very quiet so not to draw Tejima any closer. Turning his head slightly he saw the moaning teacher's outline just outside the window, even with the shades pulled down. Taking a seat next to the foreigner, he whispered as low as he could.

"Hey. I want to ask you something and I want your answer, but please do it quietly. Those guys outside…" He pointed to Tejima's outline. "It looks like they only rely on hearing. That being said, did you come in here because you saw what happened at the gates?"

The girl finally looked at him, revealing her face. Her pale green eyes showed her fear quite well before she turned away again, but not before nodding to Ryu's question.

"What's going on out there?" She whispered fearfully. "Why is it happening?"

Ryu shook his head. "No idea, but we sure as hell don't want to stick around. Those things _will_ find a way to get in here soon, and if-" He stopped when he saw another door opposite to the one that was blocked. "Where does that lead?" He pointed.

The foreigner looked up and saw what. "The gym."

His eyes widening, Ryu said a bit more loudly. "There's some sports equipment in there, right?" Maybe he didn't have to head all the way to the dojo after all.

"There is. It's all in a closet, opposite of that door…on the other side of the gym."

Smiling slightly, Ryu stood up and offered his hand. "It doesn't sound too bad; they're probably not in there yet. As long as we stay quiet, we shouldn't have any problems." _At least not yet… _He thought to himself. "You want to come?"

Foreigner girl looked outside at the teacher's outline, worried that he could bust through at any moment. Nodding her head, there wasn't any doubt about her decision.

Upon getting into the gym, the pair moved quickly to the large door that contained all the equipment. Ryu volunteered to stand guard while the girl picked out something to arm herself with. Privately the boy wished that she'd hurry up, as there was no telling if Tejima-sensei and his friends would break in.

Finally she emerged from the closet, and, much to Ryu's surprise was grasping a long wooden yari (or spear in English). Noticing his look, she explained.

"I'm in the sojutsu club." She seemed less afraid now and seemed to be regaining some hope. Nodding, Ryu entered the storage and looked around. To his disappointment there were no bokkens or shinais in sight but he did see a pair of baseball bats in a corner and decided to use those instead, even though he'd never played the actual sport.

He began walking towards another door before the girl caught up to him. "Wait, where are we going?"

"The roof." He replied solemnly. "It should still be okay, and it has enough space where we can move about freely. We'll think of a plan of escape and come down later."

"But what if the monsters manage to get up there anyway?"

"There's an observatory up there right? If worse comes to worse, we can hole up in there for a while till help arrives."

The girl sighed before nodding. With that, they opened the door and quickly headed up the stairs. Thankfully the creatures weren't on this side of the building so they had little trouble progressing. Ryu didn't want to slow down, however; there was no being too careful in case Tejima's group was limping after them.

"Sorry about not introducing myself earlier." The girl piped up as they approached the roof access. "I'm Sarah Knight, American." Smiling half-heartedly, she added. "Hard to believe a foreign exchange student would get caught up in something like this, huh?"

_I knew that accent was familiar…_ Smirking back, Ryu introduced himself. "My name's Ryu; Ryu Busujima."

"Huh?"

Before she could ask any questions, the two emerged onto the roof, the sun's light hurting their eyes slightly. Looking around, the two thankfully didn't spot any monsters and walked over to the edge rail overlooking the campus.

"Uh…" Sarah inquired. "You said your family name is Busujima?"

"Yeah, why?" The boy didn't stop his walk, though he was curious where she was going with this.

"Are-you wouldn't happen to be related to a _Saeko_ Busujima, would you?"

He froze. That name; what did she know? "You-you know my sister?" The blue-hair asked astonished. "Does she go to school here?"

Now it was Sarah's turn to show shock. "Sister? But she never…never mind; its not like I've ever _talked_ to her before, but she's practically a legend here! She's captain of our kendo club and the nation kendo champion." Ryu was taken aback; he wasn't expecting to see or hear from his big sister so soon, especially not after his recent ban from the estate. What a reveal.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Sarah kept asking. "You say she's your sister, but you didn't know where she went to school?" She sounded suspicious.

Hanging his head, Ryu remembered the tragic incident from their childhood, where Saeko nearly lost her life.

"It's been over ten years since I last heard anything from her." Ryu smiled sadly. Sarah noticed this and decided not to ask anything more, since it was obviously making him upset.

Before anything more could be said, they heard the intercom come on.

"Uh, attention everyone…"

* * *

><p>At the same time of Ryu and Sarah's meeting, Morita was continuing on his way down the halls. He'd just wrapped speaking to Takashi and was on his way to the dorms when someone else caught his eye. It thankfully wasn't a teacher but rather another student who Morita knew since starting here. While the individual wasn't well acquainted with Takashi or anyone else in Morita's circle, the same could be said about a good chunk of their little gang.<p>

"Yo, Toshio-san!" He called out. The student in question had messy brown hair as well as eyes of the same color. Like Morita and Takashi, he wore his uniform open, revealing a red-orange shirt, but his other features didn't seem all that unique aside from towering a few feet above other students. Turning to Morita he smiled.

"Hey, Morita! How's it going?"

The two had know each other since the beginning of Toshio's sophomore year, the two almost immediately hit it off and became close, though admittedly not as close as Takashi was with the blonde boy. They often discussed girls among other things, but it hadn't progressed Morita's luck with the ladies any further. Toshio Miura, of course, never had a technical girlfriend either, but was marginally more successful with women in that regard.

Shrugging, the blonde guy answered. "Not much; just came from pep-talking Komuro. The poor guy's been depressed lately after his girl left him for someone else."

Now curious, Miura's brows raised as the two walked down the hall. "No shit? I thought he'd be tougher than that. Didn't Miyamoto promise to marry him or something when they were younger?"

"Yeah, well, we all know how well childhood promises can go when you get into high school, specially us guys!" Morita laughed.

Sighing, Miura nodded, though he privately felt a bit bad for the two. Morita was right in the fact that sometimes you needed real dedication to accomplish some childhood dreams. More often than not, however, the harsh reality of the world could dull those burning desires.

"Speaking of _girls_," Morita chuckled lecherously. "I heard that you and Yuki really got into it last week. Is it true? 'Cause I thought that Taniuchi was already yours?"

That caught the brown-haired boy off guard. Nervously laughing, he couldn't look his friend in the eye.

"Yuki's a total skank and you, scratch that, EVERYONE in the school knows it! It was only a temporary thing, nothing more. Besides, she finds a new man every week; I just happened to get caught up in the cycle."

"Huh. Still, you getting a one-day deal with her is a _lot_ farther than I've ever gotten. And with the hottest girl in school, no less! You're my hero, bro!"

That was…rather vulgar to accept praise for, but Miura shrugged it off. It wasn't uncommon for guy pals to talk like this, so he didn't let it get to him.

"Well, what about Taniuchi, then? She's still your girl right?" Morita inquired.

Miura closed his eyes and smiled. "Heh, Fumiko's not my girl, man." His smiled slightly broadened. "Not yet."

"That's my man!" Morita patted his fellow pervert on the back. The latter however felt that talking about Fumiko in this manner was rather inconsiderate, but like with Yuki he didn't dwell on it for too long. The two laughed a bit before ceasing their walk, gazing out the windows. The volleyball and soccer teams were outside playing, none paying any head to their observers.

"But you know, now that I think about it," Morita maintained his smile, but his enthusiasm lightened his eyes grew more serious. "You _and_ Komuro seem to have suffered from the 'Unlucky Childhood Friend' Syndrome."

"What's that even mean?" Miura asked, cocking a brow.

"Well think about it: Komuro and Miyamoto were childhood friends who were destined to be together, like any sappy love novel you'd read or something. But then…I don't know; maybe Komuro was too shy and she lost interest or Miyamoto forgot about it; I don't have a clue. The point is that he lost her, yet you yourself seem pretty determined to bed Taniuchi; the girl who you've now known since you were like 8 or something?" Dialing back his analysis a bit, he concluded. "Though, you ever wonder if you'll only be confined to the friend zone with her or not?"

A period of silence followed, Miura closing his eyes. After a while, he gave a smile and shrugged. "Well if worse comes to worse, I can always look up Yuki again right?"

"Guess so, then again, Fumiko Taniuchi isn't too bad looking herself. You have awesome taste!"

The two laughed before they started walking again. Morita still had his goal of getting back to the dorm hall for some shuteye. Miura, on the other hand, had decided he was going to get the last few classes in before the day was out. In the meantime, they just talked on their way, Morita listing off the girls he included in his Triple A Girl list while Toshio just smiled and nodded.

The truth was that Toshio had strong feelings towards Fumiko, of love. Part of him wanted to be closer to her but the other parts told him that being her best friend was good enough, and that being closer to her than any other boy was just fine. His brief thing with Yuki was something he felt ashamed of; it made him feel like he turned his back on Fumiko. Thus he broke it off, though it was a hard decision to make, naturally.

Eventually the duo arrived at the walkway leading to the dormitories. Morita began to give his farewells to his other best friend.

"Well, its dreamland for me! You sure you don't wanna join me? I've got some nice pics!"

"Nice try, but one of us has gotta stick to it, otherwise we'll both be gone by month's end."

"Suit yourself!"

"Before you go," Miura stopped him. "Be sure to come tomorrow; wouldn't want class to bore me to death twice in a row!"

"That's assuming it hasn't done so already!"

On that note, the boys were about to part when the announcements came on.

"Uh, attention everyone…"

Immediately they were confused. Whoever this was, he sounded pretty panicked, practically frightened, but why? Not to mention it wasn't the usual announcer they heard speaking everyday. "A violent assault has just taken place on the school grounds! Please, all students stay with your teachers and evacuate immediately!"

Miura's eyes widened. "A 'violent assault'? What's that even mean?" He gazed out the windows to see what the big deal was but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Morita, feeling a bit scared, tried to joke it off. "Maybe some bastard brought a gun to school?" He shrugged. "Terrorist attack?" The non-amused brown-haired student brushed the possibility off before looking to the speaker.

"I repeat, a violent attack has just occurred on the school-"

The voice stopped following some sharp feedback on the intercom. For a while, only silence was heard. Until…

**Until…?**

* * *

><p>(Moments beforehand)<p>

"What's going on?" Rei asked. She, along with Takashi and Hisashi were speed walking through the hall after leaving the classroom.

Takashi struggled with how to word it before speaking. "…Something really messed up happened at the front gate. If you value your life than you'll escape!" That was the best he could manage.

"At the gate? That's it?" She responded unbelieving.

"There was some intruder at the gates. A few of the P.E. teachers went to go check it out. But then…" He trailed off. "…Something happened, and now those teachers have started killing each other."

Rei was beginning to get annoyed, especially at his ridiculous story. _This_ is what he _slapped_ her for? "That's ridiculous! There's no way that'd ever-"

"Fine." Takashi cut her off. "You're more than welcome to go and die." Rei held her cheek, obviously annoyed, but wasn't able to counter with anything.

"Wait."

Hisashi stopped at a lone janitorial cupboard and opened it. He took out a broom as Takashi questioned him. "What? You forget something?"

Putting his foot on the broom, the gray-haired boy gripped the handle firmly and pulled it out of the broom piece. "If what you said is true, we'll need weapons, right?" He quickly handed the handle to his girlfriend and than pulled a bat from a sports bag sitting on lockers to the right and gave that to Takashi.

"What about you?" He noticed there was nothing left in the locker.

"I know I don't look like it, but I've got a black belt in karate." He looked out the window for a bit. "Anyways, let's get out of the school. I want to check on my family."

"Your family…" Takashi uttered. _Why? I mean it's not like it's a national crisis or anything._ Though to be honest, he wasn't in any position to say it _wasn't._

"First we'll call the police!" Rei interjected. "My dad's a cop, so he'll be here right away!" Nodding, the black-haired boy took out his blue colored cellphone. It was against regulations to carry one in this school, but there was no time for protocol.

"School rules are meant to be broken, right?" He tried lightening the mood, but Rei paid no heed and dialed away, putting the phone to her ear. As soon as it was done ringing, Rei was going to open her mouth but stopped shortly. Her eyes widened in shock. She didn't say anything for a while.

"What's wrong, Rei?" Her boyfriend asked concernedly.

On the phone, the brunette couldn't believe what she was hearing. A…voice machine?

_I repeat, this is a recording. We're experiencing an unusually high volume of 110 calls. All operators are busy. Please wait on the line or try again another time. I repeat, this is a recording._

Lowering the phone, Rei looked at her friends with a scared expression. "They said they're getting too many 110 calls…but that's impossible…!"

Hisashi and Takashi grimaced. Hisashi had a feeling that something about Takashi's story sounded familiar, but now he knew. In Takashi's case, the feeling from what he saw at the gates came back. He knew that something worse was on the horizon, and this at least partially confirmed it.

At that moment, the silence was broken when the intercom turned on. "Uh, attention everyone…" A rather shaken voice said. "A violent assault has just taken place on the school grounds! Please, all students stay with your teachers and evacuate immediately!"

In classrooms near by, the trio heard various students making comments.

"Wait, what?"

"Wait a minute, what?"

"For real?"

"It's gotta be a joke, right? It sounds like Kamigawa-sensei!"

"So they finally realized it." Takashi mused. Whoever was making this announcement wasn't the usual speaker, and he sounded pretty damn scared, though unlike at the front gate this seemed to come from immediate fear.

"I repeat; a violent attack has just taken place on the school-"

A loud blast of noise cut him off from saying anything more. Takashi felt some panic bubble up in him, but he kept it suppressed. "It's happening!" He said quietly. The mic came back on.

"G-get away form me! Get back! Raaaaagh! Grrrr! OW! Grr! You son of a bitch! DIE!"

* * *

><p>Back at Class 2-B, the overweight student from before was hearing all this and snuck over to the door. He just made it outside when he heard someone step behind him.<p>

"Hirano."

The boy in question jolted, thinking that it was an assailant. When he turned his shoulder, he was relieved, as well as pleasantly surprised, to see that it was none other than his classmate and longtime crush, Saya Takagi.

"Ta-Takagi-san…" He smiled sheepishly.

Putting a finger to her lips, she shushed him. "Let's get out of here!"

* * *

><p>Aside from the chaotic noises on the intercom, not a sound was made. Even the sports teams playing outside had ceased activity, glancing towards the administration building.<p>

In the martial arts dojo, an exceptionally beautiful girl with purple hair and blue eyes stood up. She was gripping her bokken tightly. _There's danger…I shouldn't remain…_

Various other teachers and students looked around for any sign of trouble but none were to be found. What the hell was going on?

The announcer's struggle continued. "Graaaaaagh! Grrrrr! Waaaaagh! Eh? Huh?" Soon the fight was beginning to sound less and less even. But than, the most terrifying sound of all came about.

"WAAAAAAAGH! STOP IT! PLEASE NO! I'M GONNA DIE! NO STOP! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

In the nurse's office, the nurse herself, a big-breasted woman with blonde hair, had just woken up from a nap. Hearing a loud death cry would do that. All she made was one confused sound.

"Myeh?"

* * *

><p>Kamigawa's corpse fell to the ground, his throat torn to pieces. His blood stained the walls just next to the microphone, some dripping to the ground. The assailant stood over and moaned a bit before moving on it's way…in the direction of the school library.<p>

* * *

><p>It was now quiet, far too quiet. In the classrooms, several students were already getting to their feet, their mouths agape. Not even the lightest sound on campus could be heard. For Class 3-A teacher, Koichi Shido, this was especially disturbing. Was that whole broadcast for real?<p>

_That was Kamigawa's voice, no doubt… _Thought the man. _What on Earth should I do in this situation?_

_Snap_

Before he could piece it together, **all hell broke loose.**

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The screaming came from out of nowhere and doors were flung open, students pouring out like a flashflood. It was every one for themselves as they ran, punching, kicking, or trampling over anyone who was unfortunate or foolish enough to get in their way. At least one male was trampled to death, but no one paid it attention. Some of the more considerate folks told the others to hurry, but it was all just so they wouldn't be alone in this chaotic race.

Looking from his hallway windows, Shido watched as all of third years scampered past him, none glancing his way. Looking at his own class, he saw that none of them had left yet, all too deep in shock by the last announcement. Deciding to play it cool, he announced.

"Everyone, I know what you're all thinking. However, at this time we must obey the announcer's orders and come up with a good plan in order to escape! Any attempts at selfishness will not-"

"Screw that!" A boy with shoulder-length dark hair and open gakuran stood up and started yelling. "While we're up here 'planning' what if whatever killed that guy comes here and tries to get us? _I'm_ sure as hell not sticking around! Anyone who thinks different can just die!" He ran out the classroom to join the stampede. Soon a good chunk of the other students began dashing out as well, though unlike the others they were a hell of a lot calmer. Still, Shido surprisingly did nothing to stop them.

When the departures had concluded only seven students, six males and one female, were left. Grimacing, Shido couldn't believe what was happening here. Turning to the outside windows, he walked over…and his golden eyes widened in terror. The front parking lot had a small legion of people…with gray skin and who were walking rather limply towards the wall of screaming students. The way this was happening almost made it look like-

"Wha-what the hell's going on?" One of the remaining students, a black-haired boy who wasn't wearing his gakuran, made his thoughts known. "It's just like a zombie-"

"Illogical." Another student wearing glasses cut him off. "If bodies could still move after ceasing function, than death would never be-"

"Would you shut your frickin' mouth?" A larger, more heavily built young man with dyed hair barked. Looking down at the spectacle, the escaping students tried pushing against the gray-skinned intruders, but all they succeeded in doing was getting themselves attacked and…chewed on? The guy with blonde hair was starting to get fidgety.

"This isn't funny…this isn't goddamn funny…!"

Shido glanced at his remaining students as they each took the carnage outside in their own way. The one girl, styling her midnight-blue hair in pigtails and wearing glasses over her blue eyes, had tears swelling up. Covering her mouth, she turned to her beloved teacher.

"Why is this happening?" She whimpered. The man in the suit had no answer for her, as he was just as stumped.

"Taniuchi-san…" He uttered, his soothing voice trying to sound comforting.

"Sensei!" Fumiko Taniuchi sobbed and threw herself at her favorite teacher, Shido giving her a cool down hug.

"Shh!" He whispered. "There's nothing to be worried about. As long as we stay up here, we'll be safe." Taniuchi was so distraught that she never saw the scowling face of her teacher, who stared at his other students debating on what they should do. Glancing outside he saw that a good number of the students were now gray-skinned and bleeding. They were making their way back into the courtyards and would no doubt get into the buildings eventually.

_This really is an apocalypse of the undead, isn't it? Assuming all the rules seen at the cinemas apply, we're all doomed!_ Shido realized something. _Unless…_

Shido's eyes widened, giving the room another look around. These students were confused, frightened, and needed something, or rather _someone_, to turn to for guidance. They needed to depend on someone.

_**Someone to LEAD them…**_

A small smirk appeared on Shido's face. This was the perfect opportunity to do what he always desired, and to show _him_ that he made a mistake in whom he chose.

"Your attention, everyone." Shido called out, releasing his embrace from Taniuchi. Immediately she gazed up at him and everyone else turned to look. "As I'm sure you've all lain witness to, a group of monstrosities have decided to invade our school! An invasion of the undead, to be precise; as unnatural as that sounds."

Everyone's eyes widened. They were in shock that their teacher could say it so casually, though they also supposed that there was no talking around it. "That being the case, from we can make of things outside, it would seem that our only silver lining is that we still have a bit of time before they make their way up here!"

_Crash_

A loud shattering sound could be heard coming from below. Some female screaming followed and a very disturbing moan. Also, there was something else; something that sounded like…chewing?

"Guys…" The black-haired student with long hair covering his eyes spoke up. "They're right downstairs." This made the more jittery members especially Taniuchi, tremble.

_Dammit…_ The high school teacher narrowed his eyes. _It's happening faster than I first thought. In that case, the only remaining option, at least for the moment, is…_ Sighing, Shido spoke up again. "Nobody panic! At their pace, it will still take time for them to advance to the third floor. Thankfully there are plenty of materials here to use for a barricade. That said, we must block all entrances leading to us, so that the monsters cannot reach us!"

Letting that sink in, Shido made the request that no one wanted to hear. "I'm going to need someone brave to undergo this mission. I know that it's scary, but even so, if we do nothing but cower-"

"I volunteer, Shido-sensei!"

Irked a bit at being cut off, Shido and the others turned to the black-haired boy raising his hand. Stepping forward, he spoke. "I…I don't know if it will help much, but I've read up on some stuff like this…and, uh…I've seen a few movies so I know what to expect. I'm…probably the only one to go."

Shido frowned at this child. He was obviously one of those Survivor's Guide readers that no one liked being around. But than again, in a situation like this, someone like this could be quite useful, and right now he needed to take what he could get. Still the student didn't look as strong as the others here. He put on a cheerful expression to the boy.

"Very well! This is a very courageous thing you are doing, Kurokami-kun." Opening his eyes, he said more seriously. "Still, your going out there alone is out of the question. We'll need at very least two volunteers to carry all the necessary items! Does anyone else have the courage?"

At that moment, another student shoved a guy with spiky dark hair forward with an evil smirk on his face. The evil looking boy waved him forward, much to spiky-head's annoyance. Shido saw the guy and smiled pleasantly.

"Ah, Rokuro-kun! You wish to join Kurokami-kun with his heroics?"

_Aw shit! _Of course, Hiroaki Rokuro wanted nothing to do with the danger this entailed. He'd much rather stay here in the safety of the classroom. But no thanks to Muto who pushed him forward he now felt like he had no choice. Besides, if Shido was telling the truth, doing nothing would only hasten their deaths.

"Fine, I'll go!" He pointed to his companion. "But only because this guy can't do a damn useful thing on his own! C'mon, Kuro!" The other boy wasted no time in following his aggressive counterpart out the door, where danger lay just beyond.

"Good journey, my young friends! And remember not to let anyone or anything in!" Shido called after them while waving. As soon as their footsteps faded out, his friendly smile was replaced with a smirk of cold satisfaction.

"Now what, sensei?" A different and younger student asked, fear reflected in his brown eyes.

"Now," Shido returned to his reassuring face. "Now we board up the doors."

* * *

><p>The trio of Takashi, Hisashi, and Rei were frozen from hearing the screaming coming from all around the campus. After a bit, the boys both nodded to each other and they started running in the other direction. It was the only choice they had, but Takashi had second thoughts.<p>

"Hey!" She followed them. "Aren't we going outside?"

Hisashi shook his head. "The classrooms are overrun with people trying to escape. We'll save time by using the management building!"

"Yeah, but-" Takashi tried to protest once he heard but Rei stopped him.

"Hisashi is right, you know. Just do what he says!" He wanted to argue back, but decided against it.

"Fine!"

The three managed to get to the walkway leading to the other building with little trouble. Upon reaching the bridge, however, they saw a figure walk into view from the library. It had gray hair and wore a white dress shirt with a brown vest, with tan colored dress pants and black sandals. It had to be a teacher, no doubt.

"Isn't that the modern Japanese teacher, Wakisaka?" Rei asked no one in particular.

"If he's trying to stop us-" Takashi began, but than he looked at the teacher's left leg, and noticed it was not only bleeding, but missing a chunk of flesh from it. "Hisashi, are you seeing-!"

Turning the way his friend shouted, the karate expert took one look at Wakisaka and gasped. "Don't get near him! He's-"

Before he could finish, the language teacher waltzed a little closer and then did something horrific. His mouth opened wider than physically possible while making a most disturbing noise.

"Uuuuugh…"

Rei gulped, backing away slightly. The black-haired boy hesitated a bit before an idea hit him. "You guys find another path. I got this!" He bolted straight for the teacher.

"Takashi, no!" Hisashi called after him.

"Oi, Wakisaka!" The student tried to get his attention, but to the former's surprise, he just swung him aside, smashing him against the walls.

"Takashi!" Rei tried to go over to him, but soon found herself fighting for her own life. Wakisaka's mouth opened wide as he tried to reach out and grab her. She warned him to stay away while swinging the broom handle defensively. He refused to back down.

"Stab him, Rei!" Hisashi shouted. "Don't hold back; give it all you got!" It dawned on her just before Wakisaka grabbed the weapon, now inching his way towards her.

Rei screamed upon seeing the crazed instructor up close. His eyes were rolled back and small amounts of blood were dripping from them, along with some from his gaping maw. Takashi had just collected himself and was about to help but stopped with the next words out of Rei's mouth.

"Don't underestimate…" With that she managed to tear her makeshift spear from Wakisaka's hands and charged forward. "…what sojutsu users are CAPABLE OF!" She jabbed him twice in the stomach and chest respectively, knocking him back, then bringing the full weight of her weapon on his shoulder. _There!_ The final blow in sight, Rei Miyamoto thrust forward and pierced the creature's heart, lifting his body up to dangle.

"Nice!" Takashi praised his ex's prowess.

His compliment's meaning was short lived; Rei noticed that Wakisaka was twitching slightly. It was brief enough that she thought she was seeing things, but she was rudely awakened when Wakisaka made her lose her balance, twisting around until she lost her grip. Now leaning on the walkway's wall, Wakisaka got closer until Rei saw her spear still in his chest. She got a hold of the spear and with all her strength lifted him up as he flailed around. He didn't go very high, his hands barely brushing Rei.

"This is crazy!" She screamed in disbelief. "I stabbed his heart. How can he still move?"

Wasting no time Hisashi ran to his girl's aid, grabbling the deranged teacher and putting his feet to the ground. "Now's your chance, Rei! Pull it out now!" She did as she was told, yanking it out of Wakisaka. What shocked her more was the minimal amount of blood that came from the hole. Takashi took notice as well.

"Hisashi, get away from him. Something about him isn't right!"

Giving a cocky grin, Hisashi reassured. "Don't worry. I can flip him no problem!"

However, with those words, Wakisaka began to do something very bizarre. His neck started twisting around 180 degrees, his creaking bones adding to the disturbing image. He kept it up until he was face to face with his opponent.

"What the-!" The gray-haired boy shouted. "How is he so damn strong!?" He never got an answer; Wakisaka opened his jaws wide and chomped into Hisashi's arm, making him scream in pain.

"Bastard!" Takashi ran towards the struggle. "Get the hell away from Hisashi!" A swing to the shoulder with a baseball bat barely moved the attacker at all. Rei wasn't far behind as she called to her lover, piercing Wakisaka's kidney. This time there was no reaction at all as the monster focused on Hisashi.

"Why? Why won't he let go?" She was on the verge of tears this time.

"I knew it!" Takashi uttered in horror. There's no way anyone stabbed in the hart could still be moving, plus only a little amount of blood came out of the hole Rei made when she impaled Wakisaka when there should have been pints of it all over.

"Huh?"

"He's dead!" One of Wakisaka's eyes rolled and pierced through Takashi. "HE'S A FUCKING MOVING CORPSE!"

"GRAAAAAAUGH!" Hisashi cried out as the teeth sank deeper into his arm.

"HISASHI!" Rei dashed over to her lover and tried pulling him away. "Takashi, help him! You're a man, right? Do something!" He just stood there with his mouth agape, unable to take in everything.

"DO SOMETHING, WILL YA?"

Something in the drifter snapped; with a loud roar he charged forward and brought the bat from down high, smashing it on Wakisaka's skull.

The impact was so hard that one of the teacher's eyeballs popped out, and his lower row of teeth completely shattered. Afterwards, the corpse of Haiken Wakisaka buckled its knees and fell face down. One of the sandals he wore slipped off as he collapsed. Panting heavily, Takashi just stared at the body for a moment. He had just…killed a man.

"Hisashi, are you okay?" Rei walked over and examined her boyfriend's arm. "It's alright." He assured her. "He ripped off a piece of my flesh, but its no big deal."

Her relief was shattered along with the sound of glass shattering along with a disturbingly familiar scream.

"Noooo! Stop, Akio-kun!"

They looked over the walkway and saw. Down near the lecture hall's entrance was black-haired girl struggling to keep one of the zombies off of her. But Takashi knew that her fate was sealed; he had far too much weight on her.

"NOOOO! DON'T BITE ME! DON'T EAT MEEEEEE!" Akio proceeded to tear into his woman and licked up her blood.

The three watched in horror, Rei in particular covered her mouth while trembling. She had known that girl from her club and thus was hit the hardest. "T-Tomoko…!"

Looking out among the rest of the campus, Takashi could already make out dozens of other figures waltzing around. How did it spread this quickly?

"There's no one here that can stop _all_ of them!" He was trying not to sound scared, but failing halfway.

"That's not our only problem…" Hisashi pointed towards the straight path of the offices. The black-haired boy paled when he saw a few teachers coming their way, all in the same state as Wakisaka; gray-skin, blood dripping, and more than a few parts missing. Takashi recognized a couple of them from the main gate, where all this chaos began. The girl held her weapon close.

"What can we do? The first floor's that way and we had enough problems dealing with just one!"

"The rooftop!" Hisashi explained.

"The roof?"

"We'll hole ourselves up there in the observatory until help arrives!"

Nodding, the other two followed after Hisashi. Looking back on it, it probably would have been a better option to just fight their way to the first floor entrance and get off school grounds, but that never occurred to them. They honestly thought that the roof was the best choice at the time. Alas, it was yet another thing they were wrong about…

* * *

><p>Back on the ground where Tomoko laid dead, a longhaired blonde girl used her yari to fend several of the creatures off. Upon putting her fellow sojutsu club member to rest, she decided to head back to the lecture hall and rescue any surviving friends. So caught up in her goal that she never noticed three other students were making a dash towards the library.<p>

* * *

><p>In the dorm hall, Morita was breathing heavily. A deranged look adorned his eyes as he gripped the bat like his life depended on it. Toshio, now adorning his batting helmet from the baseball team, took back his own bat from the…<em>corpse<em> that his friend had put down.

Barely holding together, the two tried to escape with a bulk of the other students only for Toshio to turn around and try to find Fumiko. Morita tried to talk him out of it, since they had enough problems already but he was shot down, resolving half-heartedly to tag along. According to Toshio, Fumiko was in Class 3-A during this period. But before going anywhere else, however, the two went back to the dorms to get some bats they could use as weapons. They got what they came for, but didn't get far before seeing what was going on.

The hallways were painted red with blood and bodies were littering the ground. One particularly wrecked female student was still twitching, much to their fright and confusion. Toshio poked the girl with his bat, but soon regretted it. She rose slowly at first, but suddenly bolted forward and bit down on the shortstop's bat. Thankfully Toshio was able to "encourage" Morita into rescuing his ass, but probably at the cost of his sanity.

"What the fuck…" He wheezed, gasping for breath. "…was that what I fucking thought it was?" Miura in the meantime examined his bat, disgusted that there was some teeth embedded in it.

"What do you even _call _this? A zombie apocalypse?"

"Don't say that fucking word, man!" Morita almost immediately countered. "What is this? Some dumb horror movie shit…Goddammit! I told you I did NOT sign up for this!"

"What word?" Miura honestly asked.

"The…" The blonde boy trailed off. "That freaking z-word, man! Oh god, this is _not _happening! It's gotta be some sick joke, right?"

Obviously, Morita was against calling the undead monsters "zombies", most likely out of denial that this was happening. Of course the brown-haired boy didn't call him out on this, as he himself also had to face the fact that a zombie nearly ate him. It was a horrifying experience.

Miura's thoughts were cut off by the sound of moaning from behind. Turning around, he soon wished he never saw; other bodies were starting to get back up and moving their way towards the duo. The worst part was their moaning; it sounded like background noise effects one would hear at a haunted house attraction, except this was _actually _happening!

"Well that's just fucking-A…" Toshio muttered. Putting a hand on his companion's shoulder, he whispered. "We'd better not stick around! Let's hurry to 3-A. Also…" He motioned to Morita's bat. "You better get used to using that. We'll probably have to kill more of these things along the way."

"Easy for you to say, slugger." Morita was actually grimacing at this point; something the old him would never do. "Let's go. I hope your girl is worth all this crap."

Nodding, Miura took off through the walkway, his friend trailing behind him. When crossed they noticed that the carnage below had gotten _much_ worse than before. They paid it little thought since they couldn't afford to have any distractions. Considering what they saw once getting back to the class wing, however…

"Jesus Christ!"

"And I thought the dorms looked like a dump!"

The lecture hall had _far more_ corpses piled up, the number of _walking_ corpses even more so. And the scent was just…goddamn…!

"Any bright ideas, friend?" Morita turned to the other boy.

"Let's head for the stairwell. Shido-sensei's class is right above us, so we shouldn't have much hassle."

Leading the way, Miura kept himself rigid, ready to defend himself incase one of the beasts decided it was dinner time. Fortunately, none of Them seemed to care much for their presence so they got through without much trouble. Unfortunately, for the slugger, in exchange he got to see the horrifying faces of the undead up close. Not a single looker in the bunch, to say the least.

He felt something touch him and jolted, nearly screaming before realizing it was Morita, who was pointing rather frantically the way they just came. A rather tall male zombie was coming at the pair, his arms stretched out in front of him. He was moving towards them rather slowly, however, and Toshio took advantage of this. Positioning himself like waiting for the ball to come, he waited for the right moment before swinging. Closing his eyes, of course.

_Damn…I'll never be able to look at this sport the same way again…_

When Toshio opened his eyes, the corpse's brain matter was splattered everywhere, the only thing holding the head together being a thin layer of skin.

"Holy crap…" He heard Morita utter. "Would you've done that to _me_ if I had put Taniuchi in my report?"

Miura was tempted to laugh, but just couldn't work up the energy for it. "C'mon, the stairs are right down this hall."

When they got to the staircase, however, the boys were immediately discouraged.

The doorway leading to the third floor was blocked off by an array of desks, cabinets, and tables all combined to make a wall. Just before it closed, Miura could see a person through the small gap. He called out to them, but while he didn't know if it got their attention, it certainly got Their attention. The few of Them who were trying to get through the barricade now turned their attention on the students, who were far easier prey.

While the two quickly made work of the two upstairs, Miura felt a hand grasp his ankle and he was dragged downwards. "Dammit, Morita! I think it's about time you save my ass!"

The blondie didn't need more encouragement and swiftly dealt a blow to the dragger, sending him tumbling down the stairs. With no more zombies to kill at the moment, Miura went up to the barrier, quite annoyed that his journey would now take longer than needed. He tried to be polite as he possibly could.

"Hey, I know you guys can here me up there!" On the other side, the two students who Koichi Shido had sent an hour earlier whispered to each other.

"You're…you're not bitten?" A nervous voice questioned.

"No, we're fine. I'm Toshio Miura of Class 3-B."

"And I'm _the _Natsuhiko Morita of the music club!" The blonde boy proudly proclaimed.

"Anyways," Miura cleared his throat. "My friend here and I are trying to get up there. Can ya clear all this aside and let us in?"

A more aggressive voice shouted. "Fuck no! Ever since this crap began, we've been boarding up this place so that They don't come up here! What'll happen if we _do_ take it down? What if those goddamn monsters get up here and overtake us? We got a whole class up here still!"

That raised both of the lower students' eyebrows. "An entire class? Really?" Morita was amazed, and so was Miura. The prospect of a whole class of survivors was extremely uplifting.

* * *

><p>On the other side, Kurokami and Rokuro debated about what to do. In the end, the former won out and let his choice known to the outsiders.<p>

"Look, there's not much time so I can't really say too much. This place's gotta stay closed, but…I think that there's still the entrance from the walkways coming from the administration building. You can try there if you want."

While Kurokami was explaining this, he thought heard the sound of what sounded like moaning coming from that very walkway.

Miura was not pleased. "The faculty building?" He sounded incredulous. "And you want us to walk our asses _outside_ first to get here? It's probably overrun with corpses by now, just like everywhere else on campus!"

Unlike his companion, Rokuro wasn't going to put up with stranger's crap. Who the hell did he think he was talking to?

"Listen here, fuckwad; we were given strict orders not to let anything living or dead up on this floor! Hell, we were moments from going to seal that place before you showed up, and the only reason I'm not doing that right now is because Kurokami here is too chicken-shit to go along with it!" He breathed for a moment. "Besides, it's not like you douchebags are even gonna make it all the way here. You'd have better odds at trying to break down this shield of ours!"

"Orders?" He heard Morita ask. "Who told you to do this?"

"We ain't telling you fucks any more secrets. If you think you're so badass, than by all means try and get here!"

"Give a message to whoever gave you those orders…and go tell them to stick it up their damn ass!" Miura barked. "I'll be there in ten minutes; fifteen tops! Asshole!"

As soon as their footsteps went away, Rokuro was gritting his teeth. _**No one ever **__**talked to him like that, no one**_**! **"Shit! I hope that damn jock dies!"

"You could've toned down the dick." Kurokami icily said.

"Fuck you."

"Uuuuugh…"

The boys froze upon hearing that moan. To be honest, Kurokami had heard it faintly when he was talking to Miura, but put it off as him just hearing things. But now he knew for sure that he wasn't.

Whirling around, they saw the owner of that moaning waltzing towards them, and he was coming from the faculty walkway.

"I told you we should've just ignored those guys!" Rokuro backed away fearfully. Even he didn't know what to expect from an undead.

Kurokami however was looking at the creature differently. The look he wore would kill a banshee if it were to see it. Picking up a crowbar he found in one of the classrooms, he began advancing towards the zombie.

"'THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Rokuro screamed.

"Relax…" It wasn't a recommendation from the black god; it was an order. Tussling his hair aside, Kiichiro Kurokami exposed one of his eyes and smiled.

"Don't worry; I got this!"

* * *

><p>"Fifteen minutes <em>tops<em>?" Morita repeated back to Miura. They were heading down the stairs, which thankfully seemed to be clear of any other corpses. "It took us a grand _ten _minutes just to walk down that hallway, Toshio! Are you insane?"

Miura replied with dry sarcasm. "Not yet. If walking doesn't cut it, than we just start running!"

* * *

><p>Upon getting to the roof, Takashi and company gazed out into the city beyond the schoolyards. Smoke was bellowing up from multiple locations and limping figures perverted the streets. In addition the sirens were so loud that covering their ears proved pointless. It was like a scene out of a Sentai finale.<p>

"What the hell's this?" Was all Takashi could say.

"Now we know why the cops never answered our call…there's no way they could with all this!" Hisashi said grimly.

"What's happening?" Rei panicked. "Everything was fine a minute ago! C'mon, you guys gotta have an answer for me here!"

Just then the wind started picking up and Rei started to lose her footing. Her boyfriend thankfully pulled her close, even though Takashi was going to at first. Frowning, he was so busy getting caught up in this crap that he forgot the whole reason he saw it happen in the first place: skipping class so that he wouldn't have to see Rei with Hisashi.

More importantly, though, when the trio looked up, they saw the most incredible sight. Four large UH-60JAs, or Mitsubishi H-60s, flew right over their heads. Giving the teens no sign of stopping, they flew off to the horizon towards only god knows where.

"American Black Hawks?" Takashi exclaimed. "Here in Japan?"

"No." Hisashi pointed out. "They're probably from the Self-Defense Force! But where'd they come from? There's no base around here!"

"Come back! Please help us!" Rei waved her arms trying to get their attention but Hisashi brought her down.

"That's not gonna work, Rei. It's the SDF; they don't fly out just for nothing. They were probably sent for a special mission under specific orders." Closing his eyes, he added. "They're not here to rescue _us_."

Pointing to the courtyard below them, he continued. "That should have been obvious when they didn't send anyone to deal with this." Below, a girl wearing her gym uniform was being held and torn apart by her ex-teammates, while a male student tried to escape atop a soccer goal but was bitten above the ankle for his trouble.

"_This_ is how outside is, where you can run away from it. Now imagine what its like inside the school, where there's no way of escape."

No one said anything for about ten minutes after Hisashi's explanations. Rei in particular was imagining what everyone was going through elsewhere. Fear, paranoia, confusion, anger, sadness, insanity; every negative emotion she could think of was probably in effect.

And there was nothing they could do except cower for their lives.

* * *

><p>Down in the school, the purple-haired girl from the dojo silently bared witness to another student being tackled and killed by two of the monsters. This was more than enough for her; all this carnage and blood. She knew of course that she couldn't save <em>everyone<em> who was left, but she would be damned if she couldn't bring a few with her. Her pride as woman simply wouldn't permit otherwise.

Drawing her bokken, Saeko Busujima eyed the pair of undead walking up the stairs, ready to fight.

* * *

><p>"Its like a disease that's caused by 'Them'." Back on the roof, Hisashi resumed talking.<p>

"'Them'?" Takashi was confused.

"Dead people may be attacking the living left and right, but this isn't a video game or movie, so I can't bring myself to call them 'zombies'. Thus, they are 'Them'."

Speaking of which, the ground below was crawling with Them and They began to climb up to the walkways and various rooftops. They were determined to claim Fujimi Academy as their own.

"They eat people, and those who get killed by their bites come back to life as one of Them; its probably their only way of multiplying. Not to mention…" He grabbed his bleeding arm. "…It looks like bashing their heads in is the only way to kill them for real."

"Guys, we're in trouble!" Takashi's voice brought the other two out of their thoughts. He was over by the door leading back down to the building, playing with the handle.

"The lock's busted! They'll be up here any minute!"

No sooner did he finish those words that a small cluster of Them came up the outside stairway access. For now it was only about six or eight of them, but Takashi knew in his gut that this was just a scouting patrol for a larger horde.

Now seeing them, Rei wasn't feeling too sure of herself. She went through hell just trying to fend off one monster, let alone a whole group of them. She turned to her boyfriend for the answer.

"Hisashi! What're we supposed to do?"

Looking across the ocean of the walking dead, the karate ace stared hard at the observatory. Pointing to it, he declared. "Let's get to the top and block the stairs! It's our only real option at this point."

"GUYS! THEY'RE COMING!"

Takashi ran over to his friends, panting heavily. Looking over to the door they came from, four or five others of Them made their way near the water tank. They weren't advancing on the group yet, but that could change in all due time.

"Takashi," His best friend asked. "Did you hear our plan?"

"I heard enough." Turning to their goal only a few feet away, the black-haired student steadied himself like he was about to make a run on the school track. Suddenly, the adrenaline caught him.

"Let's GO!" With that, the drifter, the drifter's ex, and the drifter's best friend moved towards their salvation.

* * *

><p>"This idea stunk from the start…"<p>

Sarah was no longer trembling like before, but she was still fearful of the situation. As was Ryu, who clearly saw that their "hide up on the roof" plan was shot to hell and back. Upon hearing the announcer's message and subsequent death, the ex-Busujima heir decided that it was far too dangerous to go back down and that they should hole up here until help arrived.

Judging from the moaning they heard now, it's obvious that it was working just _great_ so far. Whoever let these guys on the roof was really gonna hear it.

"Let's GO!"

That voice sounded close. Ryu motioned for Sarah to come over to the visible half of the observatory. Three more students were running across the rooftops, and Ryu knew exactly where they were headed.

* * *

><p>Running across the rooftop, the three focused on their destination, doing their best to avoid any attention from the undead. Hisashi especially had to be careful; he couldn't risk further injury like with Wakisaka.<p>

Takashi saw one of the corpses in front of him and swiftly reacted, bashing it aside. Noticing that they we're only a few feet away from the observatory, Takashi shouted to his friends.

"Hurry!"

He rounded the corner of the fence and noticed a male zombie turn to face him. He wasted no time bashing in the face and kept going, seemingly by accident flipping a female corpse into the opposing wall. Hisashi was the first to catch up and almost fell over but Takashi lent him his shoulder for support.

Noticing his friend's condition, he asked. "Hisashi, are you all right?"

The gray-haired boy didn't get a chance to answer before hearing his girlfriend's battle cry coming from behind. Rei, deciding to be brave, whirled around and thrust the sharp end of her broom pole into one of Their chests.

"You idiot!" Takashi shouted. Did she not learn anything from the fight with Wakisaka?

"Say what?" She countered.

Bad move. No sooner did she look back the creature grabbed the pole in its "heart" and pulled it out of Rei's hands. Surprisingly, it also swung the stick back and than proceeded to slam it into her stomach, smashing her into the wall.

Grunting in pain, Rei closed her eyes only to feel her weapon fall back into her lap. When she looked up she soon wished she hadn't. The beast did the most disturbing thing possible: it got on all fours and lumbered his way towards her. Shrieking, she covered her eyes.

"NOOOOOOOO! STAY AWAAAAAAY!"

"Re-"

"Rei!"

Takashi was about to run down and help but Hisashi beat him to it, grabbing the bat out of his hands and charging to the rescue. Grasping his weapon with two hands he reeled back and hit the monster's head as hard as he could, splattering blood on the wall. The corpse collapsed on the stairwell and Rei looked at her boyfriend in relief.

"Hisashi!" She exclaimed.

"Did you see that? Remember; smashing their heads is the only way we can kill them!"

If Rei was hearing Hisashi's explanation, she gave no sign as she walked up to him smiling hopefully, apparently forgetting that danger wasn't too far behind. Noticing that a female was getting too close, the boy quickly ran down and kicked her in the stomach, sending her down and hitting her head against some outcropping.

Takashi turned around and yelled for his friends to hurry. About five more of Them were walking towards the staircase and possibly even more of them were well on the way. The couple wasted no time in climbing up and moving to the observatory, Rei holding her boyfriend steady. Watching them disappear, Takashi turned back to watching the undead hoard waltz up the stairs.

"Jesus!" He uttered, still in disbelief about the whole incident. "Wh-What the fuck?"

They kept chewing on any bodies that didn't reanimate as the others moved towards the three that they knew contained life in their bodies. The boy gritted his teeth, finally screaming his question to the dead:

"WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING OOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN!?"

"Uuuuugh…"

"Oi, drifter-san! Are you TRYING to bring the whole hoard down on us?" An angry unfamiliar voice reprimanded him. Turning around, Takashi saw the voice's owner standing just inches from his face. He almost fell backwards before the blue-haired student pulled him up, nearly flinging him over the railing opposed to the observatory. Gulping, Takashi took a few seconds to see how far he would've fell. _Holy shit…_

"Takashi! You over there!" Hisashi opened the door to the inter sanctum. "There's not much time! Help me set this up!" The blue-haired guy and Takashi immediately started dragging out tables for a base.

"Rei, you gotta cover us! You too, transfer!" Takashi ordered. The blonde girl immediately took a position and tripped the nearest undead, sending him tumbling down. In a hilarious effect he slammed into another male and both got whacked into the fence.

"Not bad!" Rei also took a stance while praising her fellow sojutsu-user.

"Thanks." The blondie nodded, but than noticed something…off about the brunette's spear. "Why do you have a broom handle? There were still plenty of yaris left."

"I wasn't exactly _planning_ on fighting for my life today, alright?" Rei complained.

"Uh, ladies?" Ryu called out. "You can come back now; we're ready." He offered his hand to Sarah and pulled her over the table while Hisashi did the same for Rei. Sighing, Takashi pushed the first table into position, ready to start building their salvation.

* * *

><p>In the courtyards, Miura was beginning to break down somewhat. In the air was the same pleasant scent of cherry blossoms, but it contrasted greatly to the gore still surrounding him. At least while inside the buildings, he knew everything was consistent with appearance and smell. Outside, however, the sweet scent contrast in his mind only made the atmosphere all the more chilling.<p>

Turning away, he knew he had to stop looking at every little detail. At the rate it was going he'd be a rambling maniac by the end of the day (that's assuming the day would ever end). Morita apparently took wind of this and tried his infamous pep talk.

"Dammit man, you've been leading the way all this time. Don't even _think_ of backing out now! You are NOT giving up this late in the game!"

Turning to his perverted friend, the ballplayer felt grateful for the fact that he wasn't alone in all this. Just the thought of being by himself scared him more than any walking corpse. Nodding, Miura said. "I know…we've gotta keep moving…"

Keeping their pace, the duo kept moving towards the faculty building, taking down any of Them that either attacked or got in their way. Though he never said it aloud, Miura was starting to hate the fact that he had to be the dominant member of this pairing, since blondie here had a bit of a mini-breakdown of his own back at the dormitories. On top which, being leader also meant that he had to see all of the bad things happen first, which he was certainly not prepared for. Even worse…

_Look at all that smoke! It's probably happening all around Tokonosu, maybe even all of Japan_!

Upon getting closer to the admin building, the brown-haired boy could see that they'd have to go out of their way a bit to get inside. They were occupying the more conventional and straight path, but thankfully the steps leading up to the other walkways were less crowded and could be cleared easily enough if careful. Sadly there was no set of steps leading up to the walkway Miura needed to climb to.

_Hang in there, Fumiko! I'm coming for you!_

"KYAAAAAAA!"

"DAMMIT BITCH, MOVE YOUR ASS!"

The sound of those screams made him turn around towards the walkway leading from the cafeteria to the faculty building. It wasn't from Morita, thank the lord, but Morita himself was gazing in horror at what was happening on the walkways. A male student wielding a rake was trying to fight off a group of Them and not very efficiently. There was also a female with him, but she was already starting to get dragged away by the undead, so Miura was pretty sure she was doomed. The girl getting swarmed at the very least made most of the boy's assailants leave him, but there was still about ten or eight of them left, and Morita's next words brought alarm into Miura's eyes.

"Oh god, that's Takeda! We gotta go help him!"

The guy he was talking about, Shusuke Takeda, was basically Morita's partner in crime when it came to hitting on girls, while Miura and Takashi weren't playing frisk. Just the same, Miura concluded that the lecher's fate was already sealed; They were too numerous and the third year already had other priorities. He gripped Morita's shoulder in protest.

"Just leave him, dammit! He's as good as fucked anyway! It'd be suicide to go-"

Before he could finish, Morita punched him hard in the face, though the baseball player didn't realize what had hit him right away. Looking to his friend, Miura saw his friend wearing a furious expression; the first time he'd ever seen Fujimi's number one perv _angry_.

"Fuck _you_, Toshio!" He spat. "I'm already with you to save your girl, and I think that in itself is suicide! If you want my help saving your friend, then help me save mine first ya selfish jackass!"

Without waiting for a response, Morita dashed off for the horde surrounding Takeda. "Morita, stop!" Miura shouted after him. Glancing at their original goal, Miura considered just continuing to the walkway, but he couldn't just abandon his friend and going on alone didn't feel very comforting either. Cursing his luck, he ran after Morita.

A couple of Them were in his path, so Miura gave a strong swing at their heads, picking them both off. In an almost comical fashion, another one of them with surprising speed charged forward only to trip over the others. Morita in the meantime felt his adrenaline taking over as he plowed through any zombies unfortunate enough to get in his way. Getting up to the walkway, Miura barely managing to keep up, Morita called out to Takeda, who whirled around to see the two advancing towards him. Smiling, the ponytailed student was oblivious to what stood behind.

"LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Miura screamed.

Takeda barely registered before he felt a cold touch grab his torso. He barely turned his head when his attacker bit into his shoulder and forced him to the ground. About five or six more monsters gathered around while he was vulnerable.

"NOOOOOO!"

Morita was ballistic as he got to the ring of zombies, trying to beat them off Takeda. As for Miura, instinct took over and he just kept whacking. Anything that reeked of blood or rotten meat was the enemy at this point; he wasn't thinking, just doing.

After what seemed like an hour, the two had succeeded in killing the remainder of Them around the walkways. Miura almost collapsed he was so tired. After having to handle these things for an hour and a half, he could barely stand. The only reason he didn't fall was due to his own paranoia and using his bat to support himself. Panting, he looked to his friend; now slouching over Takeda. The ponytailed student had wounds on his legs, chest, and neck and his eyes were still open, no life reflected in them.

Morita was shaking him, but the more realistic Miura knew that it was done. "He's dead, Morita…I'm…I'm sorry…" Shaking his head frantically, Morita couldn't admit it. He couldn't lose his soul brother; he was akin to what Hisashi was to Takashi. Tears welled up and he was about to bawl before he noticed movement. Takeda's arms started twitching a little and his body started to rise. The sophomore patted his friend on the head, a hopeful smile returning.

"Aw, thank god!" He laughed weakly. "He's alright, Toshio! He's not dead! Don't worry man, we're gonna get you help and-"

"Uuuuuugh…"

That moan…!

The other boy dropped his bat with his mouth agape. It was that same bone-chilling moan he'd heard from the female back in the dorm hall. Takeda finally got back up on his feet; slowly and rigidly like a puppet on strings. There was nothing reflected in those sickly yellow eyes.

"RUN, MORITA! HE'S ONE OF THEM NOW! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Morita barely heard Toshio's warning as he stared up at his now undead friend, tears forming anew. He just sat there as Takeda groaned morbidly, no sign of the bro he knew left inside.

What happened next would haunt the two for the remainder of their lives. At that moment, Takeda started growling a bit, looking towards Miura a short distance away. Wasting no time the ballplayer picked up his bat and held a defensive position, though he began to back away slightly. The blonde boy stared incredulously before seeing Takeda walk around him. His movements were interestingly more fluid than the rigid limping of the normal undead, something neither of the batters could wrap their heads around. And then…

**Takeda grinned.**

On his ash-colored face was a very broad and menacing smile; the type a serial killer gets when they're about to end their victims. That slasher's smile indicated only one thing:

**This zombie was hungry…and he just spotted prey.**

"ROAR!"

Miura couldn't take it anymore and bolted for the faculty building, and that's when the beast did the scariest thing ever: he ran.

_Ran_. Morita couldn't believe his eyes! It was like something out of _28 Days Later_, where the undead were full-on berserkers that, when together, were almost unstoppable. Since when could any of these things do that? He called after them tearfully.

"TAKEDA, NO! TOSHIO, COME BACK! I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE! PLEASE COME BACK!"

Some footsteps shuffled in his general direction, no doubt belonging to more of Them. Standing back up, the blonde's look had gone from terrified to furious. Gripping his bat tightly, Morita let out a LOUD battle cry that anyone left alive on campus would hear be they outside or inside.

"You're dead…" He was panting as he swung. "You're ALL DEAD!"

"Goddamn…" Miura sprinted up the stairs of the faculty room, having lost Takeda somehow; he had no idea how. A couple of tears formed. "Why is this happening?"

Having reached the second floor, Miura kept sprinting, more scared then he had ever been in his life beforehand. He was scared for Morita, who he had to abandon to save his own ass, scared for Fumiko, for that he knew was probably already dead, and scared for his own life, and the fact that he was now alone.

The worst part had to be that he was surrounded by Them, sitting down and munching on any carcasses that didn't come back as one of their own. All in all, it was Hell on Earth, and there was only one thing the ballplayer knew:

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

* * *

><p>Takashi was doing his best to hold up the makeshift barrier, but he didn't think it was going to last. They were far stronger than anticipated and the three banging on the tables weren't going away anytime soon. Ryu, who was bracing his shoulder against it, thought the same.<p>

"This isn't gonna hold up!" Takashi shouted at his friend. Hisashi now had a white towel wrapped across his arm, covering the wound from Wakisaka. Sarah had found it among other things while in the observatory.

"Just keep bracing it like that." Hisashi calmly stated while wrapping some tape he found around the legs of one of the desks. He extended it to one of the lower bars of the railing, attempting to reinforce the barricade.

Ryu couldn't believe his eyes. "Scotch tape? Is that even gonna work?"

With a small smile, Hisashi said. "Scotch tape has a pretty high tension threshold. At least that's what we learned in class."

Takashi grew slightly pissed at that last statement. How did Hisashi always manage to make him look like an idiot? On the bright side, it seems that Hisashi's idea was working; They kept pushing against the desks but had no luck dislodging them. Sighing, Takashi had to admit that Hisashi's quick thinking really saved their asses. Sure it was only a temporary solution, but for now at least they could breath for a moment.

"That won't hold them back forever, you know." The boy with blue hair told them.

"It's only…_pant_…until we find a more permanent solution." Hisashi got out.

"Hisashi, Takashi." Rei was coming out of the observatory with some bottles. "I found drinks and some snacks. They're probably for the Astronomy Club when they go on field trips." She handed a bottle to Sarah and then to Takashi and the others. "There are some sleeping bags too. We can probably last two or three days here."

"Any drinkable water?" Sarah asked nervously.

"There's a sink, and a toilet too!"

Takashi sighed in relief. "Thank god!" He'd hate to have to embarrass himself up here, especially with a couple of girls around!

The blue-haired boy finished sipping his drink and turned to the three strangers. "In any case, thanks for showing up when you did. If those things had gotten up here before you-"

"Hey." The gray-haired boy smiled warmly. "That's my line. There's a good chance we would have failed with that barrier if you hadn't been here already." He looked at Sarah, indicating his injured arm. "Thanks for this."

"D-don't mention it…" Sarah blushed slightly. She knew about who he was and never thought she'd exchange words with one of the five aces of Fujimi Academy.

Scratching his head a bit, Ryu turned to the railing. "Yeah well, I was already up here waiting for my orientation to begin when I saw what happened at the gate."

Takashi's eyes widened. "You saw all that?"

Ryu nodded before pointing to Sarah. "She did too. I found her cowering in the locker room after I came inside. We got some weapons and came here to think of a plan, but then that announcement happened and-"

"And this guy thought it was okay to stay up here and "hole up" until help came." The American finished. "Yeah, brilliant move."

"I didn't have time to think it over for very long!" Ryu argued. "Anyways, I'm pretty sure you guys saw those Blackhawks that passed by, right?"

"Yeah, but trust me when I say those weren't Blackhawks. They were from the SDF." Hisashi explained. This made Sarah pale slightly.

A brief period of awkward silence followed before the teams decided to introduce themselves. The young man with the bandage began by extending his hand. "I'm Hisashi Igo; Class 2-B; karate club member." He glanced over to the antennae girl. "She's my girlfriend, Rei Miyamoto, from the sojutsu martial arts club. Oh, and my best friend, Takashi Komuro."

Rei bowed while smiling while Takashi kind of gave a half-hearted wave before turning away. He seemed uncomfortable with something, but Ryu couldn't make of it before going to shake with Hisashi. Before he could give his own intro Rei opened her mouth.

"I thought you looked familiar!" She said to Sarah. "You're that American exchange student from New York City, right? I've seen you in our club dojo!" The blonde girl nodded shyly. "My name's Sarah Knight. Nice to meet you."

Ryu finally got to talk again. "I'm Ryu Busujima. It's my, scratch that, it _was_ supposed to be my first day here, then all this shit happened. Huh? What's that look for?"

The three newcomers were speechless, though Ryu was able to figure out why rather quickly.

"Busujima?" Hisashi asked confusedly. "But isn't that name…"

Turning to Sarah, the boy Busujima looked surprised. "I told you your sister's pretty famous around these parts." She smiled.

"Y-your Busujima-san's brother?" Rei asked in disbelief. Ryu nodded solemnly. "But-but she doesn't have any siblings! I remember she said so herself."

Ryu winced. Saeko had obviously been hurt by the separation just as badly as he had, but her denying his existence still hurt. Then again, unlike with Zabuza, he wasn't about to disown or shun her for it. In fact, he was looking forward to a reunion, assuming she still lived.

"Do you guys know if she's okay?" He asked hopefully, but Takashi shot him down hard.

"Unfortunately, we know about as much as you do. It took everything we had just to get up here ourselves." He glanced at the ground and saw a female student retreating from the female teacher he saw earlier and several others. "From what we saw, though, the whole campus seems to be overrun."

Looking down, Ryu swallowed hard. Not so much at what might become of them up here but at the fact that the only relative who cared about him in this country anymore may just as well be dead. Sarah came up and put a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Busujima-san. Your sister is a genius with the sword! She wont let a few monsters take her down. Trust me!"

"She's got that right, Busujima-san." Rei added.

Smirking a little, Ryu replied. "Thanks ladies, but please just call me Ryu. I don't like formalities." Turning across the rooftops he quietly murmured. "Besides, I'm currently a Busujima in name only." Looking back to the others he chuckled. "Crap first day, huh?"

"Yeah." Takashi couldn't help but snicker a bit before sipping his bottle.

Nodding, Hisashi looked to his girlfriend. "Intros aside, Rei, while you were in there, did you manage to get the water flowing?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" She pondered.

"With the school in this shape, its only a matter of time before the power shuts down." He looked down to see Hayashi and the others of Them chewing apart the girl from earlier. "And without power, the filters down at the water purification plant will stop functioning…"

"Meaning the water will stop completely…or at the very least be unsafe to drink!" Ryu concluded.

Sarah joined the conversation "Don't worry. This school's got a back up generator in case of emergencies! Even if push comes to shove-"

"And just who do you think it's going to occur to to try and turn it on?"

With that statement, Takashi guzzled down the rest of his drink, some of which poured down the wrong pipe. After coughing a bit, he looked at Hisashi who was also sipping his drink.

"But then again, help will come before it gets to that point." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't get all dark on us, man!" Takashi looked uneasy. "I've got enough problems with this already."

"Yeah, you would." Rei snarked.

Sarah looked down at the other buildings. "Even so, we'd be a lot better off and fed if we could get to the dormitories or the cafeteria."

"Assuming the dead haven't turned them into their snacking grounds already, which I bet they have." Ryu coolly replied.

"Obviously." Over the railing, Takashi saw a female zombie getting close to their position. Gripping his empty bottle, he was about to chuck it at her.

"You goddamn-"

"Don't throw that Takashi!"

Hearing his best friend stop him, he turned to Hisashi. "Why not?"

Sighing, the gray-hair explained. "We'll refill the empty bottles with water while we still can."

"I get it!" A small light bulb turned on when Rei said this. "They say you can live off of water alone for about a week!"

"Exactly." Her boyfriend was handed her bottle, Takashi scratching his head in the background.

"Tch…" Ryu scoffed at Rei's naivety. "You're a junior in high school and that fact _just _occurred to you? Not too bright, are ya?" The roach-head pouted when she heard that.

"Hmph! Says the guy who didn't know about how strong scotch tape can be!"

"Grrr!" He growled a bit before turning away with Sarah giving him a "got you there" kind of look. "For your information, Rei-san, people can go for at least a month with just water, not just a week."

"Actually it depends on the individual's diet, weight, and overall health." Hisashi corrected. "The time of death can range from three to just under thirty days."

"Okay then."

Ryu shrugged his shoulders in defeat as he turned away, with Hisashi turning to his black-haired friend again. "Say, Takashi, can you try using your phone?"

"Sure." He dialed 110 and put the phone to his ear. "Hello? Police?" The voice machine from when Rei was on the line was still being heard. Sighing, Takashi hung up. "Same as before."

"Are you really surprised?" Asked the Busujima clan's ex-heir.

"Why? You know something we don't?"

Hisashi pointed to the smoldering city in the distance. "What he means is that the whole town is probably like this."

"Like that wasn't obvious from the smoke."

"But why?" Rei looked up to her lover. "Why's this happening at all?"

Gritting his teeth, Takashi picked up his metal bat and banged it against the rail, taking out his general frustration with the situation. He bet that his acquaintance Imamura would have done the same thing in his shoes. In a mere two hours since the attack began out front, everything had gone to hell. People dying left and right, coming back as the walking dead to feed on others; it made no sense.

"They're like zombies…" He muttered.

"No offense, Komuro-san, but they _are_ zombies!" Sarah pointed out.

"Guys," Hisashi intervened. "Can we not call them that? It…just sounds fake, like we're playing a video game."

"Like _Resident Evil_? I love those games!" Ryu grinned.

"How can you say that after seeing all of this-" Rei was about to chastise him when she noticed Sarah staring across the campus, particularly towards the lecture hall. A short male teacher with blonde hair and wearing a sports jacket with matching pants burst out onto the roof. Rei identified him as Takayama, a P.E. teacher. A sizable group of Them followed him, backing the coach against the fence separating him and the ground. All of a sudden the teacher's demeanor changed and he turned his back on Them. He scaled the fence until he was sitting on top as the undead banged themselves into the fence.

Then, to everyone's horror, Takayama leaned over and fell to ground headfirst, dying on impact. The girls were especially caught off guard, Sarah falling down and whimpering whilst Rei trembled at the rest of the carnage. She looked like she was going to jump herself but Hisashi ran over and pulled her into a comforting hug. The brunette starting crying while tossing out questions:

"Why is this happening? There's gotta be a reason for it, right? I just don't understand! If we find out what's happening, maybe we can stop it!"

Takashi, who was still overlooking the courtyards, wondered if what his ex was ranting about was true. Out of the corner of his eye, a blonde-haired guy Takashi knew all to well was smashing through wave after wave of the undead, covered in blood and god knows what else. He could tell with one glance that it was Natsuhiko Morita from class 2-A. Frowning, he knew that the blondie wouldn't last too long at the rate he was going he'd end up dead.

_I-I want to believe too_! Takashi thought. He wanted to believe that there _was_ some type of cause behind this calamity and that it would be resolved soon. But he couldn't. In his gut, he knew all to keenly…**that the world they knew and loved had crumbled away**.

"Alright then." He was brought out of his thoughts by Ryu's voice. "Well, in a situation like this, what would a normal person do?"

Sarah shrugged, still shaken from the suicide. "Run away and call the cops?"

Nodding his head, Ryu smiled sadly. "If that call Takashi-san made and everything else around us is any indication, you can clearly see how effective that's been. Besides, who's to say that only Tokonosu has been affected? It could be happening all over the country for all we know."

No one said anything to that, not even Hisashi, who Takashi thought had an answer for everything. Sighing, Ryu spoke up.

"I think I'm gonna try and get down to the faculty room." Everyone looked at him like he'd grown another head. What was he saying?

"You crazy or something?" Takashi shouted. "We are _not_ taking down those desks just so you can go and kill yourself! Besides, it's probably infested by now!"

Smirking, he replied. "We don't know that for sure. Besides, in the even help doesn't come, at least we'll have options. If down the stairs is no good, I'll go a different route." He pointed his thumb over the railing. "I'll climb down and see if I can go through one of the windows." That was met with more bewilderment.

"Don't be stupid!" Rei cried. "There's nothing to grab onto below that railing. You're just gonna end up like Takayama!"

"Which is why," The blue-haired boy continued. "I'll be needing something to grasp onto the rail while I lower myself."

"A grappling hook, then?" Hisashi guessed, to which Ryu nodded. "There might be some supplies you can use up here, but I can't promise anything." Takashi interrupted his friend.

"Whoa, hold on! You're not saying he should actually chance this, are you?"

"Takashi, could you give him a hand?"

Taken aback, Takashi just stared a moment before looking down in defeat. If history was an indication, when Hisashi was willing to chance it, it just might have a shot at succeeding. Sighing, he gestured for Ryu come on before they entered the observatory. Finding a rope was easy enough, but the hook itself was more complicated. There was no metal thick enough that could function as a hook, so they had to improvise. The broken off legs of a roll chair were substituted and the broken end was tied to the rope. Ryu was just grateful that the rope was thick enough to hold it, though of course, not everyone was brimming with confidence.

"Dude, I REALLY think this is a bad idea!" Takashi said.

"I may have agreed earlier, Ryu-san," Hisashi added. "But if you realize that if you make one mistake, even if the fall itself doesn't kill you-"

"I hear you." Ryu waved his arms. "But I've already made up my mind. Also…" He trailed off a moment. "…Will you look out for Sarah? I'm not saying I won't be back, but just in case…"

The karate user smiled. "She's in good hands."

"What?" The foreigner was getting more jittery. "No! You can't leave me! At least take me with you! Please stay with me!" Ryu put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think it'll be for the best if you stay with these guys for now. They seem pretty trustworthy, plus…" He paused shortly. "You're way too frightened right now. You need to calm down and collect yourself before going back in there."

Tears in her eyes, Sarah had to admit his point. Nodding quietly, Ryu looked around one last time at his new friends before making his descent. There was the likely possibility that his arm would be dislocated, but that was of minimal consequence to him. With that, the Busujima boy positioned his feet and lifted off below.

With a loud pop, Ryu's prediction cam true; the pain was so immeasurable that he couldn't even cry out. Luckily he felt his feet touch a windowsill before the gravity could tear his arm off. Not so lucky was the fact that he began to black out from the pain. Before that happened however, he looked in the window and saw that there were none of Them occupying it. It was already open, so he leaned in so that he would fall in the room instead of all the way to the ground.

Above the four remaining students saw the grappling hook fall all the way down and shattered on impact. Sarah was screaming frantically but Rei embraced her to calm her down. Hisashi merely closed his eyes and prayed while Takashi growled, gripping the metal tightly.

"Idiot!" He whispered. "I _warned_ him!"

* * *

><p>Two hours had passed since Ryu's descent over the balcony. The sun was already starting to set and the giant shadow of a telephone pole hung highly over Fujimi Academy. Though the sakura petals were plenty about, all the noise and laughter that had pervade the campus grounds had fallen silent, replaced by the moans and growls of the dead. Most of the screaming had died down, which could have meant a number of things, but none of the four waiting on the rooftop wanted to voice aloud what they were. The barricade they'd built managed to keep steady, and only one other of Them had joined the three already pounding away, but it probably wasn't going to last the night. Of course, Ryu Busujima had not returned.<p>

"What's taking so long?" Sarah had calmed down considerably, but was getting impatient. They had all seen the grappling hook Ryu had used fall to the ground below, but Ryu's body was no where to be found. "Ryu-san said he'd be back with help."

Takashi, of course, didn't have his hopes up "He probably slipped and broke his neck."

"How do you know?" Sarah started yelling. "No one saw his body hit the ground, did they?"

"No, but what are the odds that he survived? Even if he didn't kick it from the fall, They probably swarmed in and-"

"ENOUGH!"

The two stopped their argument and looked at Hisashi, now laying his back against the rail where the Busujima boy had gone down. For some reason he sounded exhausted and he was starting to pant, though everyone had dismissed it as nausea from all the bloody scents on the wind. As for Sarah and Takashi, Hisashi's shout had gotten its point across and they stopped arguing. Rei in the meantime had seen her boyfriend's condition and stayed close to comfort him. Once again she asked the most obvious question:

"Why? Why is this happening?"

On the roads outside Fujimi the creatures were numerous and made the school population seem like a small farm. Takashi could only guess as to how bad it was, and even then he still hadn't a clue about the sheer depth of the disaster.

"There has to be a reason." Hisashi groaned, answering Rei's question. "If we can figure out the cause, then maybe we can find a solution…" He coughed a bit. "Or at the very least…protect ourselves better."

Breathing a bit uneasily, the martial artist moved on. "First thing's first; let's try to find a lighter or some matches in the observatory…_ugh_. If we don't get a fire started soon, They're movements at night will be hard to-_umph_…_BLECH_…_cough_!"

A violent coughing and then what sounded like splattering interrupted his last words. Blood was on the cement and Rei looked at her boyfriend in alarm.

"Hisashi! What's wrong?" She turned to the others. "Takashi, Knight-san! It's Hisashi! He's-" Her yelling was stopped when she looked at Hisashi.

Takashi couldn't believe his eyes: Hisashi's skin tone had started to take on a sickly pale color and blood began leaking from his left eye. Even more disturbing was that the gray-haired ace was panting more shallowly than before; it almost sounded like…

_Their moaning…oh fuck…!_

The black-haired boy gasped. That's right; Hisashi was bitten by a zombie, and while Takashi was no horror fan, he knew enough about zombie stories to know what happens. It had been in his mind ever since the encounter with Wakisaka, but with so much happening at once he dismissed it as paranoia.

Rei's eyes widened. What was happening to the man she loved? "What's happening? It just a small bite, so why does he look so horrible?"

"Heh…" He tried in vain to lighten the mood. "It really is like the movies…one bite, and that's it!"

Sarah was holding her yari close; nervous about what would happen next. Rei's heart must've skipped beat in that moment. He didn't mean-

"W-What are you talking about? Nothing you see in the movies will happen here!" Tears formed as Takashi stepped in closer.

"But it _did_ happen…to everyone else…"

No one could say anything back. Once again, and for the last time, Hisashi had been right on the money. This was an attack by the undead, so the basic rules applied without exception. The only reason Hisashi lasted as long as he did was because the bite wasn't that bad compared to the other students. But now…

"Takashi…can you do something for me?" The drifter knew what he was going to say, but even so.

"What can I do…?" It was both a rhetorical and genuine question.

With a trembling hand, the friend Takashi knew for almost five years pointed the to the railing where Sarah was trembling.

"**Over there is a straight shot to the ground. Can you help me over? The impact should break my skull…"**

A flabbergasted Rei was speechless at first. But soon she found her voice:

"What're you trying to say-"

"**I DON'T WANT TO BECOME ONE OF THEM!"**

The sudden scream was followed by gagging the vomiting of blood, much to everyone's horror. The noise from Them pounding the desks in the background, Takashi just stared at his suffering friend. Wakisaka was one thing, but this…this was…

Something ringed in his mind. If this happened, than…

"Oi…Takashi…" Hisashi's voice was cracking, as if he were on the verge of tears. "C'mon…please do it for me…"

When he looked to his best friend, he was crying bloody tears, plus the overall complexion was even worse than a moment ago. But what was truly terrifying was the look in Hisashi's eyes; an emotion he'd never seen him feel before now: Fear.

"**I…I wanna remain myself…to the very end…!"**

And thus the last words were spoken.

Hisashi continued to puke blood and collapsed on the ground, holding his heart while screaming. At first Takashi wanted to end his suffering, but stopped himself short. He needed to be absolutely sure…

As he watched his best friend changing, Sarah turned away, unable to take in the sight. Rei was practically screaming for her boyfriend to hold on, begging him not to change.

"**Hisashi! Please hang on! No…no…YOU CAN'T DIIIIIIEEEE!"**

That last word could be heard all through out the campus, if anyone was still alive to hear it. At that moment a dark cloud passed over the sun, immersing the rooftops in shadow. Over the observatory the weeping of Rei Miyamoto was the only noise to be heard. Takashi grimaced; this _wasn't_ what he'd wanted. In fact, now all he felt was pain himself. Unwilling to break down like his ex, he remembered the last words of Hisashi Igo.

_I DON'T WANT TO BECOME ONE OF THEM_!

A drop fell on Takashi's cheek, but it wasn't a tear. When the cloud passed over, it had begun to drizzle ever so slightly, but not enough for it to be seen by the human eye. Sarah apparently noticed it as she put up her hand and felt a drop. She then proceeded to slide it down her cheek, because at that moment, for reasons she couldn't understand, she had lost all tears. _What's happening to me_? She looked back at the corpse…and paled.

The hand was twitching…which meant…!

Takashi noticed this too, gripping his bat tight. He began walking over.

"Get away from him, Rei."

The girl stopped her crying to see what Takashi was doing. Immediately she shielded Hisashi.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" She was clearly delirious. "HE'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE; HISASHI'S SPECIAL! HE WON'T BECOME ONE OF THEM!"

Takashi repeated his warning. "Get away from him."

The dead student's whole body shivered a bit and started to slowly bend up, which returned a smile to Rei.

"Hisashi!" She cried in relief. "See, Takashi? There's no way Hisashi would die and-"

She froze. His skin, his face, all that blood…! Slowly Hisashi made it to his feet and glared down at Rei…while _lurching_.

"Hisashi?"

"Uunh…"

"Something wrong?"

"Uuh…"

Sarah went crazy and backed away. "He's one of THEM!"

Rei did the exact opposite and tried to rush towards Hisashi, but thankfully Takashi wrapped his arm around and pulled her to safety. Sarah went full nelson on the brunette and would not let up no matter how hard she struggled. Takashi stood in front, facing Hisashi as he limped towards them.

"No…" Rei whimpered. "It's a lie…this can't really be happening…!"

Standing firm, Takashi readied the bat. "I know you can't believe it; _I _can't believe it. God, its stupid!"

"Takashi…"

There was no time to spare; Hisashi was getting closer, determined to devour all of them. It would have to be _now_.

_And this is for_… He bitterly narrowed his eyes at the monster.

"But this is happening…" He muttered to himself.

"Don't do it!" Rei begged.

His eyes on fire, Takashi screamed. "THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!"

He charged forward with a mighty cry. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

And thus the bat met the monster's face.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p>(Takashi Komuro's POV)<p>

"Why?" She asked me. Rei was on the ground sobbing while Knight couldn't stand to look at my work. A white towel covered Hisashi's corpse, not only as a sign of respect, but also so Rei wouldn't have to see his ruined face. "Why?"

"He would have bitten you if hadn't done that." I answered. I knew I was gonna hear it now, but who cares?

"I-I didn't ask you to!" She yelled. "And how would you know that; what're you some kind of expert!?"

Growling, I was starting to get pissed at her behavior. No matter what I do for this girl she bites my head off! Before I could chew her out though Knight beat me to it. I couldn't believe how much she'd changed in only a few hours.

"Shut up, Miyamoto! You're acting like a whiny bitch!" Her tone was barely below a roar.

Now it was Rei's turn to shout. "EXCUSE ME? MY BOYFRIEND WAS JUST MURDERED AND YOU JUST EXPECT ME TO-"

"Do you really wanna die?" Knight positioned her yari. "Because if so, there's an easier way right here!"

Rei fell silent at her threat. Hell, I was too. After which, she began crying again. "I-I didn't want to see that happen to Hisashi! If I have to live like this from now on, I wish that I _had_ been bitten so I could be one of Them too!"

"You can't mean that!" The American exclaimed.

I walked up to them, trying to calm Rei down a bit. Anything to make her feel better. "Hisashi wouldn't have wanted that for you." Bad move; she just looked at me like if I had murdered her parents in cold blood. She was smiling, but boy her eyes weren't.

"How the hell would you know, Takashi? Heh heh…" Getting to her feat her smile was replaced with full on anger, tears running down her face. "Oh, that's right! I get it now!" What she said next cut me forever deep.

"**You actually HATED Hisashi…because we were dating!"**

"MIYAMOTO!"

I didn't try to defend my actions like Knight did. Hell, Rei was right. Maybe I did grow to hate Hisashi. Or maybe not; to this day I still can't decide. But now I knew that my chances with her were finished. Even in death he still wouldn't leave her thoughts. Therefore…

"Knight-san…" I got the girls' attention. "…Protect Rei from now on. Make sure she gets out alive."

"What?"

Moving towards the barricade we built, Rei called after me. "Hold on! Where do you think you're going!?"

It was no use; I had made up my mind. "You obviously don't want me around anymore right? I'm going down there to give those monsters a beating!" With those words I began climbing the tables and over to the staircase; towards Them.

"Wha…What are you talking about? You can't do anything by yourself!" Rei's sweet voice came from behind me. What a waste of her energy.

She'll never care for me again.

"Takashi…" I heard her utter. "Come on…you're not-"

That was the last straw. I had to get away from here. Just when I was reaching the desks:

"STOP, NO!" I felt her hand grab me. What was she- "DON'T GO; I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, OKAY?"

She pulled my arm into her chest, which finally made me look. She was crying; her eyes desperate, remorseful, and burning for something. Me, after what I just did?

"I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO, SO PLEASE! PLEASE STAY WITH ME!"

What went through my heart at that moment…I can't describe what it was. All I know is that when she said that, I was happy. With that, I stepped down from the blockage. Wrapping my arms around her, it was the first time in my life I'd ever held the love of my life. And I only had to kill my best friend, who was like my brother, to achieve it.

Despite my happiness, at the same time, I had never been so doubtful about what would happen next; everything…everything about the world I had known came to an end that day. So what the hell? I looked past Rei's shoulder, down at the ground. The first one of Them, the guy wearing the business suit from the gate, was staring up at me, with the same hungry eyes.

**What the hell…were we going to do now?**

* * *

><p>With Takashi embracing Rei, and with Sarah nearby, everything was in place. Ryu unconscious, Miura and Morita separated, Kurokami beating down Them, Saeko doing the same, Takagi and Hirano trying to escape, and Shido making plans in his own classroom. It was truly a "Spring of the Dead".<p>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Damn! SUPER-LONG chapter this time! At least sixty pages worth of material for this one! For any parts that seemed drawn out or repetitive for what happened in the first few chapters and that are carbon copies from the manga/anime, I apologize. My defense is only that I wanted to start out all the various plot points and keep it interesting while showing just how much was going on while Gojo was going through his tough times. The next chapter will also cover some of that. I will try to make it shorter for you, but at the same time no promises. Hell it could even be longer. But oh well, more fun for me.

The whole reason for the Takashi POV at the end was because it only felt appropriate to showcase how big of an impact it had on him. There may be more of these from other characters in future chapters besides Gojo later on so be on the lookout.

Believe it or not, this chapter had a few scenes cut out. The scene where Shizuka wakes up was supposed to have Kazu and another character come in with an injured Okada but I was already making the chapter pretty long. Just the same the starting sequence of Episode 2 (Saya and Hirano start traveling together) was supposed to be in between Ryu jumping off the roof and Hisashi's death but that was also taken out due to length issues.

Once again I cite Fallen Angels by Mr. Wang 330 and HOTD: Ryuu's Story by Nariek Hyokame for their inspiration and plot points. If you're interested give them a read! I especially recommend Fallen Angels given it's the first HOTD of its kind; featuring the story told from the viewpoints of one of Shido's followers Miura (though he is named Ozaki in the fic itself). Trust me, you'll like it. Or not.

Next chapter features Saya Takagi and Kota Hirano as they try to find a way out of their school. Saeko reunites with her brother and Takashi's group meet up with the others (not Gojo's…that's still a bit off). All this and more next time: Escape From the Dead. Also featuring a character that was intended to be included in the manga but was cut out before chapter 2 was published. Here's a hint: Her initials are T.A.

See you next time!


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